The Arrow Bed - Krishna and Bhishma

BHISHMA (voice weak but clear): Krishna... you bring them to me. After everything... you bring them.

Krishna: "They need your wisdom, grandsire. The war is won, but the peace must be built. Who better to teach them than the one who guarded dharma for generations?"

Bhishma: "Guarded? I watched Draupadi be humiliated and said nothing. I fought against the righteous for the unrighteous. Some guardian."

Krishna: "You did what your vows bound you to do. The vows themselves were noble, even when their application became tragic."

Bhishma: "Noble? I gave my celibacy for a father's infatuation. I gave my throne for a stepmother's ambition. I gave my conscience for a kingdom that was never mine to protect."

Krishna: "And yet here you are, dying as one of the greatest souls this age has known. Do you think the gods judge by results alone? They judge by the heart that makes the choices."

BHISHMA (laughing, then wincing at the arrows): The heart. My heart wanted to stop Dushasana that day in the assembly. My heart wanted to refuse when Duryodhana asked me to lead his armies. My heart knew which side was right.

Krishna: "Then why didn't you follow it?"

Bhishma: "Because I had made vows. Because duty seemed to demand otherwise. Because... because I was afraid that if I broke one promise, all my promises would mean nothing."

Krishna: "And now? Looking back from this bed of arrows?"

Bhishma: "Now I see what I should have seen then: that some vows must be broken when dharma itself is at stake. That clinging to the letter of the law while violating its spirit is no virtue. That I should have stood with the Pandavas regardless of which king I had sworn to serve."

Krishna: "This is why you must teach them. Your mistakes are as valuable as your wisdom—perhaps more so. Yudhishthira will rule a shattered kingdom. He needs to know how good men can fail, so he can avoid those failures."

Bhishma: "You could teach him better. You make no mistakes."

Krishna: "I make no mistakes as God. But I am playing a human in this drama, and the human form I wear has its own journey to complete. Besides, some lessons must come from those who have suffered their consequences. Your words carry the weight of lived experience. Mine would be... too abstract."

Yudhishthira approaches, kneeling by the arrow-bed.

YUDHISHTHIRA: Grandsire, I have won a war but lost my peace. Millions died because of our claim. Was it worth it?

BHISHMA (looking at Krishna): You see? These are the questions only I can answer.

(To Yudhishthira): Yes, child, it was worth it. Not because of the kingdom—kingdoms rise and fall like waves. It was worth it because dharma was restored. Because a usurper was removed. Because the message was sent across all the worlds: evil cannot stand forever, no matter how powerful it seems.

YUDHISHTHIRA: But the cost...

Bhishma: "The cost was paid by those who chose to fight on the wrong side. I am one of them. Do not weep for me, Yudhishthira. I die happy because I die looking at Krishna. I die fulfilled because my last act is teaching the rightful king. This bed of arrows is not punishment—it is grace."

Krishna: "Well said, grandsire. Now, will you give them the teachings they need? The duties of a king, the secrets of dharma, the wisdom accumulated over a life longer than any other?"

Bhishma: "I will. But first, one thing."

Krishna: "Yes?"

Bhishma: "I spent my life searching for God. I visited temples, performed rituals, studied scriptures. And all along, God was playing politics and herding cows in my own family. I feel rather foolish."

KRISHNA (smiling): You searched with sincere heart. That search itself was worship. The foolishness was mine, for hiding so well.

Bhishma: "You hide well, Krishna. Even now, standing before me, I can barely glimpse your true nature. Like trying to see the ocean while drowning in it."

Krishna: "Then stop trying to see. Just surrender. That's always been enough."

Bhishma: "At the end, it's simple after all."

Krishna: "It was always simple. We just insisted on making it complicated. Now rest, grandsire. Save your strength for the teachings. You have much wisdom to pass on before the sun enters its northern course."