Abstrakt
In the Mahābhārata, Bhīṣma is mostly more of a static than dynamic character, which makes his rare and usually solitary journeys outside Hastināpura even more significant. In Bhīṣma's life, in his journeys and battles, rivers seem to have a special importance, notably as a crucial element of Bhīṣma's initiation journeys. There can be found five important characters and their respective rivers or streams which he metaphorically crosses and enters a new stage of his life: (1) his childhood ends when he leaves his mother Gaṅgā (a journey from childhood/river to youth/city); (2) he confirms his allegiance to his father and the Kuru kingdom by his terrible vow on the bank of Yamunā because of his stepmother Satyavatī (a journey during which he becomes "himself", i. e. Bhīṣma); (3) he travels to Kurukṣetra in order to fight against his guru Rāma Jāmadagnya near the Sarasvatī river, with both Gaṅgā and Ambā present (fighting one's father figure represents a journey to adulthood); (4) as a result of Gaṅgā's curse, Ambā becomes half a "crooked river" in Vatsa and half a maiden, in her next birth as Śikhaṇḍī, (s)he brings about Bhīṣma's death; and finally, (5) the pure, auspicious and cool stream of water Arjuna produces for Bhīṣma who is lying on the bed of arrows (both represent the initiation to death). The proposed paper will deal with the importance and symbolism of rivers in Bhīṣma's life, since they may represent the journey itself, a border, or a spot (not) to be crossed, of their obvious maternal and feminine principle, as a symbol of (a)morality, narcissism, amorousness, purification, metamorphosis, and the final journey, death.