When a chameleon cursed Bhishma

Bhishma lay on a bed of arrows waiting for the sun to move north. This bard, however, offers a very different reason for his plight!

Bhishma had the power to choose the time of his death. When Arjuna, standing behind Shikahandi, shoots him with a number of arrows, Bhishma falls to the ground, the arrows serving him as a bed. Not wanting to die when the sun is in the south, Bhishma lies on the bed of arrows waiting for the sun to move north. This bard, however, offers a very different reason for Bhishma’s plight.

When Pandu’s sons returned to Hastinapura, the entire town turned up to see them. A joyful Bhishma decided to pay respects to his mother, Ganga, the next day.

When the east turned red, Bhishma, rising from the right side of the bed, offered his prayers to Ganga and Siva. Clad in saffron clothes, a stick in one hand and a kamandala in the other, he set out, striding in haste. A chameleon came that way in a hurry. When Bhishma brought the stick down, unaware of the approaching chameleon, the tip went right through the reptile. The chameleon writhed in pain. Bhishma grumbled, “The wretched creature is stuck to my stick! What a bad omen to start the morning with!” Raising the stick, he flung the chameleon away. It fell on a thorny bush and struggled piteously as thorns pierced through its entire body.

Bhishma took a step forward. “Stop, sir, Stop! How can you walk away with eyes glued to the ground, as if you haven’t seen a thing! Is it fair? Folks like you think you can get away with anything, don’t you? I got stuck in your stick. That is no fault of yours. But flinging my injured body onto a thorny bush, giving me fatal wounds, was your fault. Just as I lie dying on a bed of thorns, may you spend your final moments lying on a bed of thorns,” cursed the chameleon.

The chameleon’s curse sent shivers through Bhishma. He came close to the little creature to own his mistake. But the chameleon didn’t even look at him. He breathed his last chanting the name of Siva. Bhishma was burdened with the curse.

Translated by Laxmi Chandrashekar

The author, a retired professor of English, is a well-known theatre and television artiste and an award-winning translator.

Folktales from the Mahabharata is a monthly column that features lesser-known episodes from ‘Janapada Mahabharata’. This episode has been sung by eminent folk-artiste Bettada Beedu Siddhashetty; it was collected, edited, and published by Dr P K Rajashekhara.