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AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By:

Kusmahardika T. Student Number: 014214118

ENGLISH LETTER STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

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i

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By:

Kusmahardika T. Student Number: 014214118

ENGLISH LETTER STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

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iv

inside your heart

(Tiga)

Dreams always shine brightly

Though you fail and fall

Do not give up and run into that light

Surely someday you will reach that light

When you reach that light

You will become the light itself

(Gekikou Sentai Carranger)

There is but one path to travel.

It is the path of our lives.

(Yume Tsukaima)

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vi

Many obstacles occurred during this study, but because of the supports and helps from many sides, finally I could finish this study. For their help, I want to express my deepest gratitude to Dra. Th. Enny Anggraini, M.A. as my major advisor and Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S., M. Hum. as my co-advisor, for sparing their time to guide me and for sharing their knowledge with me.

I am also grateful to all my lecturers at Sanata Dharma University who have patiently taught and enriched me with invaluable knowledge and advice. My gratitude also goes to mbak Nik who has patiently served all of the students’ needs, mas Paryo and mbak Elis, thank you for sharing laugh and jokes. And also for all the Sanata Dharma University’s staff who have done their best in serving the university students.

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viii

5. The Relation Between Literature and Morality ……… 20

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ix

BIBLIOGRAPHY ……… 63

APPENDICES ………. 65

Appendix 1 ……….... 65

Appendix 2 ……… 68

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x Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.

This study analyzes novel The Mahabharata by C. V. Narasimhan’s. The story of Mahabharata is the great epic saga of Kuru’s dynasty, the Pandavas and the Kauravas. In Kauravas army, there is a great warrior named Bhisma. He leads Kauravas’ army against Pandavas’ army to protect his beloved country, Hastinapura. I am interested in this novel because of Bhisma’s dedication, sacrifices, and loyalty toward the kingdom of Hastina and its people.

This study consists of two problems. The first problem how Bhisma is characterized in The Mahabharata Story. The second problem how does Bhisma’s loyalty is shown. Based on these problems, this study has two purposes. The first is to analyze Bhisma’s character, and the second to find out how loyalty is shown in Bhisma.

To fulfil the purposes of this study, the approach applied in this study is the moral-philosophical approach. The main source is taken from The Mahabharata novel and some books that have a relation to Mahabharata are used as the second source. To analyze Bhisma’s loyalty, the writer uses several theories namely the theories of character, characterization, loyalty, morals and morality, and the theory of relationship between literature and morality.

After analyzing the story the writer concluded that Bhisma’s character are skillful and clever, brave, heroic and great warrior, wise, love for and caring of his family and country, responsible, religious, noble and holy. His loyalty are shown when he said vow of celibacy for his father’s sake and when he kept his vow through many obstacles and war. He is keeping his vow until his last breath. Bhisma gives himself totally to bring prosperity to Hastinapura. Because of his total dedication, he gains admiration and honours not only by his family members and his friends but also by his enemy. Bhisma’s character and actions are worth to follow by us especially for countries leader. His dedication and his self-sacrifice and his loyalty for his country set a good example for us to follow. The character of Bhisma makes Mahabharata story, not only a story of goodness and evil but also a story of responsibility, loyalty, morality and prudent.

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Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Skripsi ini membahas novel The Mahabharata, karya C. V. Narasimhan. The Mahabharata yang menceritakan tentang perang besar keluarga Bharata, antara Pandavas dan Kauravas. Dalam pasukan Kauravas, terdapat prajurit besar bernama Bhisma. Ia memimpin pasukan Kauravas melawan pasukan Pandavas, untuk melindungi tanah kelahirannya Hastinapura. Saya tertarik dengan karya ini karena dedikasi, pengorbanan, dan kesetiaan Bhisma terhadap kerajaan Hastinapura dan rakyatnya.

Skripsi ini memuat dua permasalahan. Permasalahan yang pertama adalah “Bagaimana karakter Bhisma terbentuk dalam kisah Mahabharata?” Dan permasalahan yang kedua adalah “Kapan dan bagaimana loyalitas ditunjukkan dalam diri Bhisma?” Berdasarkan dua permasalahan ini, skripsi ini memiliki dua tujuan. Yang pertama adalah menganalisis karakter Bhisma, dan yang kedua adalah menemukan kapan dan juga cara yang digunakan Bhisma untuk menunjukkan loyalitasnya.

Untuk mencapai tujuan dari skripsi ini, metode yang digunakan dalam skripsi ini adalah metode moral-philosophical. Sumber utama didapat dari novel The Mahabharata dan beberapa buku yang berhubungan dengan kisah Mahabharata digunakan sebagai sumber data sekunder. Untuk menganalisa loyalitas Bhisma digunakan beberapa teori yang digunakan yaitu teori karater, karakterisasi, loyalitas, moral dan moralitas, dan hubungan antara literature dan moralitas.

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Literature can be represented as human being’s manifestation of life. It

usually describes human being’s experiences of life. It can give readers pleasure,

enjoyment, or fantasy when they are reading a piece of literary work. Literature

can also give a kind of lesson of life by understanding and learning the content of

literary works the readers are reading. It can be a means to express human’s

feelings, problems, social relationships, or even the reality of daily life. It was

stated by Moody in the following quotation:

And all of us who read literary work will find our knowledge broadened and deepened, whether in the individual, the social, the racial. Or in the internal sphere; we shall understand the possibilities of human life, both for good and evil; we shall understand how we come to live at particular time and place, with all its pleasure and vexations and problems we shall understand the ways onwards which are open to us, and we shall perhaps be able to make right rather than wrong choices. (1968: 2-3).

It is obvious that the readers can realize their problems of life by reading a

piece of literary work such as poems, novels, or plays. The readers can also get a

lot of experiences from the activity of reading a piece of literary work. Literary

works also enriches their knowledge and give them a kind of guidance to endure

their life in a better way. It can make the readers wiser to decide something related

to their choices. And helps them to face the world with its problems realistically.

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Therefore, the readers can learn many things from literature which may give a

very good lesson for human’s life.

A piece of literature is considered to be great, rich, and highly valuable if

it has the capability of exploiting and expressing the elements that making up life,

for example: life, suffering, struggles, strength, goodness, virtue, love, patience,

wisdom, hope, and joy. Literature may have the power to change human life, or at

least influence it (Harvey, 1968: 14). Laurance Perrine says that “it is

understandable because literature provides the authentic insights of life. It can

broaden and deepen and sharpen our awareness of life.” (Perrine, 1978:3)

Since literature presents us the authentic insights of life, it helps us

understand better of the human problems, sadness, disappointments and

difficulties. By reading literature, we are becoming aware of our world and lives,

which are so deep and various. Therefore, we will be more confident in facing our

lives in our real world.

Wellek and Warren stated that literature, can be an imitation of life and of

social life endured by man (1956: 95). Moreover, literature can contain of social

aspects such as, social relationship or social values in which particular social

circumstances rules the way of life of certain group of people. Literature can also

be regarded as a means of communication with certain society. The author is able

to establish a communication with certain society or even a nation by composing a

particular piece of literary work. In some way, literature can also contain some

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describe social condition, a history of certain reign in certain era, or social values

of certain society or of certain places.

Moral is a kind of judgment about what is good and what is bad, what is

right and what is wrong in human life. Moral value is used in the society to

measure the goodness of a person as a human being. Longman says, “Moral, first,

concerning or based on principles of right and wrong behaviour and the difference

between good and evil” (1992: 862).

The writer choose The Mahabharata as the object of study because

Mahabharata is an epic full of philosophical teaching and contains many moral

values. It tells the readers about human attitudes and behaviour that might build

morals in real life. In truth, the story of The Mahabharata is a very long one. It is

the longest epic poem in the world that could be a very good example in human

life. The Mahabharata includes the aspect of religions and ethnics, politics and

governments, philosophies, moral values and the pursuit of salvation. The shortest

recession of the Sanskrit version of The Mahabharata consists 88.000 verses. The

main story, however, is the story of the rivalry between the cousins, the Pandavas

and the Kauravas, which culminates in the great battle of Kurukshetra.

As Guerin says (1979: 18), those ideas and issues come from human

attitudes and behaviour in which the wishes or dreams, most sensitive minds bring

all experiences, information and human feeling to consider. Sri Mulyono also says

that the characters and the stories are the orders of morals. “They are exemplary

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of good and bad deeds, to be imitated or to be avoided, as the case maybe” (1977:

152).

Chakravanti V. Narasimhan introduces the story with its central theme of

the universal destruction and evil of war. He translates the Mahabharata Hindi

poem into a prose. His prose translation approximately 4000 verses and supplied

by glossaries, genealogies, table, and indexes that correlate with the verses of the

original Sanskrit texts.

After reading Cakravanthi V. Narasimhan’s The Mahabharata, the writer

is interested with its moral value, especially the loyality value. Loyalty is the

evidence of love which is not easily changed by life’s hardship (Darmawijaya,

1986: 46). Such loyalty becomes the proof of an individual service to others.

Therefore, loyalty also has the inestimable role in the living process.

This Cakravanthi V. Narasimhan’s Mahabharata version becomes the

main source to analyze Bhisma’s loyalty and his heroic figure. Because the story

is in the form of prose, it is easier to understand and it has the same story line and

content with the original form. Besides that, there are various dilemma of life that

Bhisma had to face which make it interesting to be analyzed, how he takes the

right action according to maintain his vow and his loyalty toward his country.

Those are morality examples that rarely happen in the present life.

If one country does not have its hero, who is loyal to protect other’s

interest, the country will be easily destroyed by the enemy. If a father or a mother

in a family does not have such loyalty to his or her wedding vow, not only the

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people who only know how to entertain themselves and who are reluctant to

sacrifice for others. If someone is not loyal to his inner feeling anymore, his life is

a false; it looks beautiful outside but rotten inside. Loyalty certainly becomes the

base of living together. It plays an important role for building a life. The stronger

his or her loyalty is, the more beautiful the building of life will be, because it has a

strong base to build many kinds of various life.

Because of the writer’s interest above, the writer is interested in examining

Bhisma, one of the characters in The Mahabharata story. The writer finds out that

Bhisma plays an important role to Hastinapura Kingdom since his young age until

his last time. Even after he loses his right as a Hastinapura’s heir, he becomes an

advisor of the king of Hastinapura for three generations. He has a deep feeling for

Hastinapura. He dedicates all of his life to Hastinapura Kingdom and Hastina’s

people. His dedications, sacrifices and loyalty toward his country make people

admire him. Therefore the writer tends to analyze the character of Bhisma and

tries to find out how loyalty is shown in Bhisma in The Mahabharata story.

B. Problem Formulation

Loyalty or obedience is one of the main keys to reach prosperous life. If

every one is loyal to their environment, society, religion, and country, surely

happiness, prosperity, and peace can be obtained. Therefore the loyalty is worth to

discuss with its relation to Bhisma. Based on the background of the this study,

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1. How Bhisma is characterized in The Mahabharata Story.

2. How is loyalty shown in Bhisma?

C. Objectives of the Study

The analysis is done to answer all the questions stated in problem

formulation, which mainly deal with Bhisma’s characters and his loyalty. The

writer would like to focus on describing how Bhisma is characterised in The

Mahabharata Story. As for the second question, the writer tries to find out how

loyalty is shown in Bhisma in The Mahabharata Story, relates with the conception

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CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL REVIEW

A. Review of Related Studies

A good novel attracts responses from other writers, comment or criticism

toward intrinsic aspects of a novel such as plot, theme, characters and extrinsic

aspect of the novel. The problems in the novel sometimes attract other writer’s

criticism. Cakravanthi V. Narasimhan’s novel also attracts other writers and

literary critics to give comment or criticism.

Prasad Gokhale says in his article that The Mahabharata is one of India’s

noblest heritages, and it is has been a elevated influence for thousands of years. Its

strengthens the soul and drives home, as nothing else does, the vanity if ambition

and evil and the futility of of anger and hatred. The Mahabharata is not merely an

"epic"; it is a romance, telling the tale of heroic men and women and some who

were divine. It is a whole literature in itself, containing code of life; philosophy of

social and ethical relations, a speculative thought of human problems that is hard

to rival. The "epic" has been an unfailing and perenial source of spiritual strength.

(www.hindunet.org/hindu_history/ancient/mahabharat/mahab_interp.html)

Mangalagiri also says that The Mahabharata is a story over five hundred

years old, or even more. It is about human nature at its best and worst, deception

in various shades and the way out of this cycle of life and death.

(www.shvoong.com/books/classic-literature/1689589-mahabharata)

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According to Anirudhgulur, the Indian Epic The Mahabharata contains

scenes of war, faith, love, duty, loyalty, adventure. One of the reasons why it is a

great book is that there are a large number of characters in the book having

different natures. Even the good natured characters do wrong things at times and

vice-versa. It is clearly a delight to read about how the characters have to deal

with their personalities at different stages of the book. Secondly the 18 day war

almost at the end of the book is supposedly its greatest plus point as one can learn

so many lessons from it.

(www.shvoong.com/books/mythology/1665046-mahabharata)

This study focuses on the loyalty which is shown by Bhisma through his

characters and acts. This study also discusses the loyalty of the main character

toward his country and family.

B. Review of Related Theories

1. Theories of Characters

To understand how a character is described in literature, we need to

understand the theory of character. Through this theory we can understand how a

character is created in a piece of literature.

In Glossary of Literary Terms (1981: 20-21) Abrams defines character as

“the persons in dramatic narrative work, who are presented by the author as being

endowed with moral and disposition qualities that can be evaluated from the

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When we think of the function or role of characters for the whole novel,

characters according to Harvey can be divided into major characters and

secondary characters. The most important from the perspective of the range from

the minor to the major, is the major characters. Their motivation and history are

most fully established. They face conflicts and changes as the story of the novel

progresses. They engage our responses more sully and steadily. If we understand

them, we presumably understand the core of the novel (Harvey 1968: 56).

There are three factors that determine the importance of a character in a

novel. The first is the amount of attention given to him/her (Henkle, 1977: 90). If

people in a novel continually talk about a character, we can assume that he is

prominent in the novel. He is also assumed as the major character, if he attracts us

to observe him closely and if he often appears in the novel. The second is the

intensity that a character seems to transmit (Henkle, 1977: 91). What Henkle

means by intensity is mystery. Mysterious people usually fascinate us. We tend to

note people better if they have an enigmatic personality than those who reveal too

much of themselves.

The last factor that determines the importance of a character in a novel is

the complexity, Richard M. Eastman explains that a complex character bears

individual traits which set him off his type (Richard M., 1965: 18). His desires

and values are likely to pill in different directions. He is also dynamic, meaning he

is capable of new kinds of behaviour under new strings. However, Henkle further

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the result, it can replace those two other factors: attention and complexity, in the

creation of major character (Henkle, 1977: 91).

Holman and Harmon (1986) define character` as the idea of the moral

constitution of human personality, the precense of moral value and the precense of

the creature in art in the form of human being. The character is also a brief

description of a person, which has some definite quality. The person is not

described as an individualized personality or physical appearance but as an

example of person’s characteristic on virtue or habit or disposition or event status

such as a grumbler or complainer, a glutton, a blabbermouth or big mouth, a fop

or unmarried person, etc. In this study, the writer will focus on the character of

Bhisma.

2. Theories of Characterization

Talking about character and characterization both have a close relationship

and define on each other. But even though they seem almost the same, character is

different from characterization.

According to Baldick, “character is a person in a narrative or dramatic

work. It is different from characterization in that character is the result, while

characterization is the process” (1990: 83). Rohrberger and Woods in their book

Reading and Writing about Literature say, “Characterization is the representation

of persons in narrative and dramatic works” (1971: 20). Characterization is a way

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Characterization is the way of creating an imaginary person so that he/she

exist for the readers as life like (Holman and Harmon, 1986: 81). To Rohrberger

and Woods, it is “the process by which an author creates character, the devices by

which she makes us believe a character is the particular type of person is” (1971:

81).

Stated in Webster’s Encyclopaedia Unabridged Dictionary of the English

Language, that characterization is “The delineation of character or creation of

character in a play, story, or novel, especially by imitating or dissembling actions,

utterances, and gestures” (1989: 248). It means that characterization is the result

of characterizing of human beings. According to Holman and Halmon (1986: 81),

the author always reveals the character of imaginary persons in the story. It is

called characterization. There are three fundamental methods of characterization:

First, the explicit presentation by the author of the character through direct

exposition, either in an introductory block or move often a piecemeal, throughout

the work, illustrated by action. Second, the presentation of the character in action,

with little or no explicit comment by the author, in the expectation that the reader

will be able to deduce the attributive of the actor from the action. And third, the

representation from within a character without comment on the character by the

author, of the impact of actions and emotions on the character’s inner self, with

the expectation that the reader will come to a clear understanding of the attributes.

Therefore, M.J. Murphy in Understanding Unseen (1972: 161-173)

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a. Personal description

The author describes the characters through the details of his appearance,

which are shown in the physical appearance, it is shown that the character is

strong or weak, tall or small, fat or thin, with curly hair or blonde, of white or

black skin, and handsome or beautiful. Personal description helps the readers both

to visualize the person and to understand his characteristics.

b. Character as seen by another

The author describes the character through the eyes and opinions of other

characters. The other characters will give an explanation about what a character is

like. The readers can also use their point of view to describe certain character.

c. Speech

The author gives the readers an insight into the character in the work

through what a person says. It can be seen whenever a person speaks, wherever

he/she is in conversation with other character, wherever he /she puts forward an

opinion, we can see his/her character.

d. Past life

The readers learn to know the character’s personality by learning

something about a person’s past life. The author gives the readers a clue to events

that helped to shape a person’s character. This can be done by direct comment by

the author and through the person’s thoughts, his conversation or the medium of

another person life. Whenever the author provides picture of the character’s past

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e. Conversation of others

The author gives the readers clues to a person’s character through the

conversation of other people and things they say about him. We need to pay

attention to conversation of other character in order to help us get more

information to support our judgement on the character. It is useful to go through

speech by speech, to determine exactly what is meant or implied by each of them.

They can show how a character is described.

f. Reaction

The author can also give us a clue to a person’s character by letting us to

know how that person reacts to various situations and events. The character shows

his or her personality from his or her actions. The actions are related to his or her

motives and thoughts.

g. Direct comment

The author describes or gives comment on a person’s character directly.

Direct comment gives the reader a straightforward description about the character.

h. Thoughts

The author gives us direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about

whenever the author gives a direct description of the character’s mind, what is he

thinking about, we are led to a more profound analysis on the mental process of a

character. We are facilitated to disclose the thought inside the character’s mind.

i. Mannerism

The author describes a person’s mannerism, habit or idiosyncrasies, which

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Those theories of character and characterization will help the writer

present Bhisma character, as well as the readers will also understand the message.

Nevertheless, writers do not always apply all of those methods in the writing

process.

3. Theories of Loyalty

Loyalty is a complicated concept, which can be interpreted in various

point of views and related to many other terms such as love, friendships, family

relationships and many others. Loyalty is usually the basis of these other concepts.

Without the presence of loyalty, a strong relationship can never be built. Loyalty

can surmise, begin with fellow feeling for one’s family, group and friends.

Loyalty comes most naturally among small groups or tribes where the prospect of

the whole casting out of an individual seems like the ultimate, unthinkable

rejection.

According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, loyalty, as a general term,

signifies a person’s devotion or sentiment of attachment to a particular object,

which may be another person or group, an ideal, or a cause. It expresses itself in

both thought and action and strives for the identification of the interest of the loyal

person with those of the object. Loyalty turns into fanaticism when it becomes

wild and unreasoning and into resignation when it displays the characteristics of

reluctant acceptance. A man without loyalty can not exist. It stirs and arouses him,

brings meaning, direction and purpose into his life and unifies his activities.

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Donald De Marco states that loyalty and obedience are very close each

other. Loyalty requires a strong allegiance, if not obedience to a group. A loyal

person must often make sacrifices on an individual level for the good of the group

to which he/she belongs.

(www.catholiceducation.org/article/religion/reo412.html)

In this modern time, many cases assumed to be an old tradition are

revealed in life development. The measurement to evaluate is often superimposed

based on the use of individual or collective life. It is not rare that something in the

past life that once became the life guideline, for example unggah-ungguh in

Javanese (or etiquette) is no longer assumed to be important. (Darmawijaya, 1989:

45). In this present time, who still uses the unggah-ungguh (or etiquette) language

as a speaking pattern? In this life, behaviour that was once assumed to be

appropriate is no longer considered relevant by people now. What is the use of

maintaining that behaviour? Usefulness is the measure nowdays. It can be a

significant measurement. But life is not only determined by usefulness.

Some people may ask, “What is the purpose to be a loyal wife if the

husband behaves as a “woman chaser”? Once again, usefulness becomes the

determination of attitude that seems significance for life development. We can

imagine, if a mother is not loyal to her baby what will the innocent, weak baby

become? What is the use of the struggling for a baby who still does not know his

future? Loyalty is a name for man’s attitude to face the complicated life.

Therefore, it has a questionable meaning, role, and significance in life

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name, showing the uneasy fact. Loyalty involves affection, mercy, and grant

which are offered in this life. It demands stable and continuous responsibility. In

addition, it is important to know that Loyalty is the evidence of love which is not

easily changed by life’s hardships (Darmawijaya, 1989: 46). Such loyalty has

important portion in living together or in living as individual. If one country does

not have its hero, who is loyal to protect others’ interest, the country will be

destroyed by the enemy. If a father or a mother in the family does not have loyalty

to his or her wedding vow, not only the children will suffer a lot in their life, but

the society will also inherit the degenerate people who only know how to entertain

themselves and who are reluctant to sacrifice for others’ interest. If someone is not

loyal to his inner feeling anymore, his life becomes false; it looks beautiful from

outside but it is rotten inside. Loyalty certainly becomes the base of living

together. It lays an important role for building a life. The stronger his or her

loyalty is, the more beautiful the building of life will be, because it has a strong

base to build many kinds of living type.

St. Darmawijaya defines “loyalty”, as follows: “Loyalty means

maintaining the relationship which has been pioneered ideally or in reality. The

personal relation becomes a part of other relations to decide the quality of loyalty”

(Darmawijaya, 1989: 24).

Furthermore, loyalty should be understood in relation to the human hope.

A hope in the future which promises individual development is connected with

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living experience, loyalty is a part of human hope to fill this life, based on the

relation with others.

In his book, Kesetiaan Suatu Tantangan, St. Darmawijaya says that

loyalty has four aspects. The first aspect is: “Loyalty describes a human attitude

which has strength and firmness”. (Darmawijaya, 1989: 41). A loyal man is a

strong man who defends his decision and faith he has taken rationally or

emotionally. The strength and the firmness of the decision are formulated in the

form of a stubborn effort. It never surrenders until the demand of the fact appears

strongly and clearly in life. So we can say that loyalty is an unsurrendering

attitude to the decision taken, individually or together.

According to St. Darmawijaya, the second aspect of loyalty is: “Being

loyal is also being firm in the principle” (Darmawijaya, 1989: 41).This second

principle can be very individual. It is decided by the human inner individual

feeling, the right principle which is confided and the justice principle as a

guidance of living together.

Loyalty is the firmness in keeping those principles in the struggle of living

anytime. A loyal man, then, will maintain his confident principle firmly as “true”

and that principle is also “meaningful” for his life together with others.

The third aspect that explains loyalty is that “Loyalty provides loyal

elements in the human relation” (Darmawijaya, 1989: 41). The character can be

very individual or very social. Being loyal to live together --- maybe the

individual close relation as in marriage or the individual relation in the working

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tired. Failures and obstacles will never calm down to loyal attitude. Moreover,

they will strengthen loyalty, because of the continuous effort. Then, loyalty shows

the long effort. It has to be done calmly, understandably, and firmly.

Finally, St. Darmawijaya defines the last aspect of loyalty, that is: (“A

mutual giving and taking”) (Darmawijaya, 1989: 41). It does not mean that loyalty

is only one time giving and one time taking. Loyalty becomes real in our attitude

because the effort of giving and taking takes place for a long period of time, even

it does not stop at all. Loyalty is an unlimited grace and is an unlimited effort.

St. Darmawijaya theories will mostly used to analyze the loyalty that

presented in Bhisma attitude when he is taking his vow, and moments when he

must defend his vow.

4. Theories of Morals and Morality

The theories of moral and morality here will be used by the writer to prove

the morality seen in Bhisma character. According to Hornby, moral concerns to

the principle right and wrong. Moral can also refer to the standard of behaviour

(1989: 548). Longman says that “Moral, first, concerning or based on principles

of right and wrong behaviour and the difference between good and evil”. He adds

that “Moral is a piece of guidance on how to live one’s live, how to act more

effectively, etc., that can be learnt from a story or event” (1992: 862).

Basically, moral is not just about making differences between what is good

and what is bad. Moral somehow has a deeper meaning. Cochrane, Hamm and

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thinking is about the fundamental values by which we profess to live (1979: 7).

Henkle, “If we talk about the morality inside a society it means that we will talk

about the morality norm, as one of the norms, which exist in human’s society

“(Ross, 1972: 68). It means that we will talk about the rightness of moral actions

in the society.

“Whatever a man’s moral dispositions are, they may be viewed as the

results of conditioning therefore the results of habit and custom. No one simply

invents moral values scratch, or develops loyalties hitherto unknown” (Ross,

1972: 206-207). It means that, one’s moral knowledge that leads her or him to

moral action is learnt from somewhere or someone since moral refers to how to do

goodness, so it can be learnt from book, story, event, or someone. Just like what

Longman has stated in the previous page. Thus, this makes one’s “moral

disposition” as “habit and custom”. Moral then is about the how to do the right

thing.

Bekker says, ‘To take a moral decision depends on conditioning of moral

behaviour patterns, on education in respects of norm and value, on reasoning,

representation, and evaluation. It depends to, on the conscience of the person”

(1974: 93). Thus, it can be concluded that, first, moral norms vary from society to

society, at least to some extent. Second, most men make their moral decisions in a

rather habitual way according to her or his consciousness.

A person can be judged to have a good morality conscience if he does not

have any other purpose in helping people. “The rule of goodness in moral is not

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purpose that helping them might serve. Instead, the rule is that you should be

helpful to people regardless of your particular wants and desires” (Rachels, 1995:

118-119).

There is also what we call as universal morality, Even though moral norms

vary from one society to another, the basic concept of morality is still the same.

Morality always refers to the goodness and the badness of a person as a human

being. “The norm of morality is a measurement, which is used by the society to

measure somebody goodness” (Suseno, 1987: 19). Once again, morality is the

way to judge whether the moral action which is done by someone is good or not.

5. The Relation Between Literature and Morality

Mahabharata is a piece of literature that contains many moral message.

These theories will be used by the writer to understand more about morality in

Mahabharata story. A literary work is made by someone. The author wants to tell

others about his or her ideas and issues, which reveal human relevance (Guerin,

1979: 18). Those ideas and issues come from human attitudes and behaviour in

which the wishes or dreams, most sensitive minds bring all experiences,

information and human feeling to consider.

John Gardner in his book, On Moral Fiction, stated that literature as art is

essentially and primarily moral that is live giving (1978: 15). It means that some

values, such as a moral lesson reflected in human life and experiences can be

found in literary works such as novels. Literary works that contain moral lessons

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action (1978: 19), or, in other words, the reader can obtain moral values through

the literary work as a lesson by understanding its contents as it is meaningful for

human being.

The Mahabharata is full of symbols of man’s life. In studying the epic,

one can learn to understand man’s life, though one needs the aid of philosophy to

prevent confusions and misconceptions. According to Sri Mulyono the characters

and the stories are instructions in morals. “They are exemplary tales, and they

teach the audience to judge the right and wrong, presenting models of good and

bad deeds, to be imitated or to be avoided, as the case maybe” (1977: 152). The

teaching of moral also can be stated in negative terms such as “Don’t kill.” “Don’t

lie.” “Don’t be traitors”, but the matter does not end there. The intriguing thing

about the stories is the way they present one dilemma after another and one

impossible choice after another, in a way that goes more deeply than merely

prohibiting wrong doing.

The stories teach us to live fearlessly and not to be afraid to look into

ourselves. We are taught to go more deeply into ourselves and learn what is inside

us. When we reach the deepest point, where there is nowhere further we can go,

we will meet our true selves and this will be our salvation. They also teach us that

if we let our greedy passions, we will create disasters for ourselves, and that

whatever we sow we shall reap. If we owe a life, we shall pay with a life, and if

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C. Theoretical Framework

The topic that the writer would like to expose is the loyalty of Bhisma in

devoting his life to Hastina Kingdom. There are some theories that are used

related with this study.

The analysis of Bhisma deals with his character; therefore the theories of

character and characterization are needed in order to explore Bhisma’s character.

And to understand more at the character of Bhisma through his action and

dialogues. The writer tries to find out what kind of person he is.

The second theory used is the theory of characterization. This theory is

needed in order to differentiate character from characterization.

The third theory is the theory of loyalty. This theory helps the writer to

analyze the loyalty of Bhisma in order to know how of loyalty that reflects in

Bhisma.

The fourth theory is the theory of moral and morality. In The

Mahabharata, the author, Narasimhan conveys a lot of moral values that people

can learn and apply in the real life. The theories of moral and morality help the

writer to judge whether the analysis of Bhisma’s loyalty to family and Hastina

Kingdom contains moral values or not.

The last theory is the relation between literature and moral. This theory is

used to reveal that in literary work there might be some moral lessons that can be

obtained. This theory is useful to help the writer what kind of moral lesson

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Based on the previous explanation, it is clear that those theories are related

to one another, and one theory supports the others. They are needed to help and

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CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

This chapter discusses the methodology that will be used in this study.

This chapter consists of three sections. They are object of the study, approach of

the study, and method of the study. Object of the study contains the explanation

about the work that will be analysed in this study. Approach of the study deals

with the approaches that I use in analyzing the novel. Method of the study

discusses the method of analyzing the work.

A. Object of the Study

In this study, the writer would like to analyze the great Indian epic entitled

Mahabharata, which was composed between 2500-3000 years ago. The

Mahabharata was originally written by Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa. It is

considered as the longest poem in the world. The most recent critical edition states

that this work consists of 88,000 verses. The Mahabharata is one of basic

elements in Hindu culture. The work also consists of epic, legends, romances, and

theology.

The Mahabharata means “the great Bharata” or “the great story of

Bharata dynasty”. Bharata was an ancestor of the Pandavas and Kuravas who

fought each other in a big war called Bharata-Yudha. The Mahabharata consists

of 18 sections, which are called parvas. They are Adi Parva, Aranyaka Parva,

Virata Parva, Udyoga Parva, Bhisma Parva, Drona Parva, Karna Parva, Salya

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Parva, Sauptika Parva, Stri Parva, Santi Parva, Anusasana Parva, Asvadhema

Parva, Asramavastika Parva, Mausala Parva, and Svarga-Arohanika Parva.

In conducting this study, the writer uses the Mahabharata: An English

version based on selected verses by Chakravarthi V. Narasimhan entitled the

Mahabharata. It consists of two hundred and sixteen pages. Columbia University

Press in New York published it in 1965. In his book, Chakravarthi V. Narasimhan

presents the retelling story of the Mahabharata in narration version. His language

is very clear, and easy to understand.

The central story of the Mahabharata tells about the Great War between

Pandavas and Kauravas in the field of Kurukshetra. Kauravas represents the evil

side of human being and Pandavas represents the good side of human being.

Besides Kauravas and Pandavas, there are other characters that have important

role and big influences to the story. Among them we can find an interesting

character whose name is Bhisma. Bhisma is the rightful heir of Hastinapura who

is willing to release his rightfulness for the sake of his father. He becomes an

adviser and protector for Hastina kingdom thrown for three generations. His

advices and guidance lead Hastina kingdom to its glory. When Hastina kingdom

faces its destruction, he defends Kauravas in the war and slay thousands warrior

until the day of his defeat.

B. Approach of the Study

Analyzing a literary work is important to obtain a deep understanding

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Since the analysis deals with morality, this analysis will imply on

moral-philosophical approach. According to Guerin A Handbook of Critical Approaches

to Literature, moral-philosophical approach is an approach that insists on finding

out and stating what is exposed and thought. The basic position of

Moral-Philosophical approach is to teach morality and to probe philosophical thought of

a period or group. The important thing is the moral or philosophical thought

(1979:39).

In this study, writer uses the moral-philosophical approach because loyalty

is one part of morality. In order to show Bhisma’s loyalty, we need to discuss

morality first. Therefore, the moral-philosophical approach is the most suitable to

analyze Bhisma’s loyalty. This approach will help the writer in analyzing how the

main character reflects moral values. As stated in the story, the major character

shows some moral values, through his characteristics and experiences

C. Method of the Study

The method of study in this thesis is library research, meaning to say; the

data that the writer uses in the analysis were taken from books on literature that

are provided in the library.

To get the data, there are two kinds of sources, primary and secondary

sources. The primary source is the work itself, Vyasa’s TheMahabharata, which

is translated into an English version in a narrative form by Chakravarthi V.

Narasimhan, while the secondary source is taken from books as references to help

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The writer has some steps in analyzing the work. The first step is to read

and look at literary works that have connection with the study. This searching

process is called as heuristic. After collecting the sources, the writer selects the

sources that reliable. In this step the writer reads several times and tries to

understand the story and to find out about the interesting part of the work.

The second step is try to find a connection and relevancy between problem

formulation and the story. Between one fact to another, in order to analyze the

character of the main character, to find out loyalty of Bhisma.

The third step is analyzing the character, the loyalty of Bhisma in the

story, using the moral-philosophical approaches and the theories of character,

characterization, moral and morality, the relation between literature and morality,

and loyalty in order to answer the questions.

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CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS

A. The Characteristic of Bhisma

1. Skilful and Clever

Bhisma’s story in Mahabharata begins when Santanu, king of Hastina

pura falls in love with a beautiful girl that he meets at Gangga River. King

Santanu’s love toward the girl is so intense that he wants to propose her

immediately, so when the girl gives conditions, the king accepts it immediately.

The conditions are that Santanu must not interface anything that Gangga does and

must not speak harsh to her. But if he breaks those conditions even one, she will

leave him. The king does not know that the girl is actually Goddess Gangga who

came down to earth and transformed herself to a girl in order to give birth to

Vasus that must be born as a human because of a curse of sage Vasistha.

Then the king gently spoke these sweet words to her: “O dazzling, slender-waisted girl, whether you are a lady of the Devas or Danavas, of the Gandarvas or the Apsaras, of the Yaksas or the Nagas, whether you be human or celestial, I ask you to be my wife.” When she heard these sweet words of the smiling king, that flawless maiden remembered her promised to the Vasus.

She replied to the king, evoking a thrill of pleasure: “O lord of the earth, I shall marry you in obedience to your wish, but on one condition. Whatever I may do, whether it pleases you or not, you shall leave me alone, and you must not speak harshly to me. As long as you observe this rule, I shall stay with you. But I shall leave you the moment you interface with me, or reproach me with harsh words.” The king said to her, “So be it!” and the maiden was overjoyed. (p. 6)

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Devavrata or Bhisma is the eighth son of Santanu, and the only son that

was not thrown into Gangga river by Goddess Gangga. He is given many lessons

since his childhood. He has study lots of knowledge and mastered all kinds of

weapons. When Devavrata grows up, he is returned to his father by Goddess

Gangga.

Gangga then said, “O king, this is the eighth son I bore you. Take him home with you. This hero has studied all the scriptures under Vasistha; he is expert in the use of all weapons, and the equal of Indra himself in the battle; he knows all the weapons that were known to the famous and invincible Parasurama. Take home with you this heroic son I bore you; he is a great archer and well versed in the kingly duties.”

The illustrious Devavrata pleased his father, the other members of the royal family, and all the king’s subjects by his exemplary conduct. Thus the mighty king lived happily with his son for four years. (p. 8)

Bhisma is actually a Vasu, aperson who nearly reaches immortality and

become a god in his previous life. He is cursed because of his wrong doings; he is

punished to become a mortal in the human world and must suffer the hardships of

humankind.

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Devavrata is well educated and trained in the art of politics and war. He is

invincible in battle and as powerful as God Indra. And also a truly statesman who

dedicates his live to his country. He is skilful, clever and has good knowledge of

states. He has pleased his father, kings, and other royal family since he was

young. He even becomes his father’s advisor and soon he becomes the heir of

Hastina Kingdom. He took his father major duty and ruled the government with

wisdom. His brilliant achievements made his father happy and led Hastina

kingdom into glory.

The illustrious Devavrata pleased his father, the other members of royal family, and all the king’s subjects by his exemplary conduct. Thus the mighty king lived happily with his son for four years. (p. 8)

The skilfulness and cleverness of Bhisma can be observed during

Kurukshetra war. He is capable of making many great strategies that are admired

and feared by his allies and enemies.

… he formed the mighty array known as Garuda. The beak of that Garuda was Bhisma himself, and its two eyes were Drona and Krtavarma. In opposition to the Garuda array Yudhisthira formed the fierce array in the shape of the half-moon.

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From the explanations above we know that Bhisma is truly a brilliant

tactician and great warrior. Bhisma is capable of leading and arranging his army

formation well and achieve victory. His war formation and army arrangement are

so great that no one can block or even see him, he moves rapidly and his move is

unpredictable. He is also a brave and great warrior.

2. Brave, Heroic and Great Warrior

His great capability in arms, bravery, heroism and his skills as a great

warrior can be seen in several events, such as when he proposes King Kasi’s

princesses in svayamvara. In this svayamvara, he challenges all kings that

assembled in that time to fight him alone in order to win the hand of the

princesses.

Taking the princesses on his chariot, the best warriors, Bhisma, addressed the assembled kings in a thunderous voice. He said, “The svayamvara form of marriage is highly spoken of by the kings. But wise men have said that a wife taking by force is to be highly prized. Therefore, O kings, I am taking away these maidens by force. You may strive, with all your might, to defeat me or be defeated. O kings! I stand here, ready to fight.” Having said this to the assembled kings and the king of Kasi, the heroic Bhisma placed the maidens on his carriot and rode away. (p.12).

His greatness is matchless; he defeats all kings that assembled in

King Kasi svayamvara alone in a fierce battle.

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Besides the event above, Bhisma’s braveness and his skills as a great

warrior is shown in the battle of Kurukshetra, when he leads Kauravas’ army

against Pandavas’ in Kurukshetra field, he slays thousands enemies’ combatants

each day during the war. Even at the day of his defeat, he is succeeded in slaying

ten thousand enemies.

He took the lives of the opposing warriors like the sun sucking the energies of all things with his rays during summer. He broke the Pandava ranks, and the routed soldiers, helpless and fainthearted, unable even to look at him in the battle, were slaughtered in their thousands by Bhisma. (p.135).

Bhisma had slain ten thousand warriors on that day, the tenth day of the battle, and now he stood on the field with his vitals pierced. (p.138).

In another word, Bhisma’s greatness in the battle has no match and

nobody can stop him. His skill and ability makes him slay thousand of enemies

which make Pandava’s warriors stun and do nothing. With his greatness in the

battle field, Bhisma is capable to bring down Krsna to war because seeing

Bhisma’s fierce in the battle field, it makes Krsna impatient and mad. He mounts

down from his carriage and ready to fight Bhisma by himself, regardless at his

promise not to interface the war.

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Krsna, as the incarnation of Visnu, becomes worried about Bhisma’s

greatness in the battlefield. He is also mad when Arjuna is still in doubt and does

not want to fight with Bhisma seriously. Besides that, the countless number

victims in Pandava army makes Krsna takes an action. Though it will break his

promise toward Duryodhana, his regulation as a god that only observed and guide

Pandavas. He was forbidden to involve directly in the Kurukshetra war.

Bhisma’s heroism can also be seen in the Kuruksetra war when he faces

Srikhandi. Even though Bhisma knows that his destiny is to be killed by Sikhandi

and he himself must suffer the pain of thousand of arrows, he does not run away.

Instead he welcoming his fate bravely.

Approaching Bhisma, Sikhandi struck him in the centre of the chest with ten broad-headed arrows. Bhisma did not retaliate but looked at Sikhandi with wrath, as if he would consume the Pancala prince with that look. (p.137).

3. Wise

Bhisma is a wise man. This attitude can be seen when he is making

arrangements for his brother’s marriage Vicitravirya; the eldest princess of Kasi

whom he had won in King Kasi’s svayamvara, Amba; the eldest daughter of the

king Kasi tells him that the one she really loves is Salva, king of Saubha. After

hearing this, Bhisma discusses it with the Brahmanas and decides to let her go to

her lover.

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all of this, you who know the precepts of virtue may do what you think proper.” When the princess had told him all this in the conclave of Brahmanas, the heroic Bhisma began to ponder what should be done. After discussion with the Brahmanas learned in the scriptures, the virtuous Bhisma gave leave to Amba, the eldest daughter of the king Kasi, to depart. (p.12-13).

Bhisma dissensions to discuss the problem with the Bharahmanas shows

that he is a wise person who could accept opinion of others, though this dissension

will lead him to his own death in the future.

Bhisma’s wisdom is tested again when he is facing the crisis of

Hastinapura’s royal lineage. Bhisma suggests taking a Brahmana to continue the

royal lines as the solution to the crisis of Hastinapura’s royal lineage. His mother

Satyavati agreesand calls Krsna Dvaipayana or Vyasa, her other son that comes

from Brahmana’s line.

There upon the Ksatriya women raised children with the help of the usually continent Brahmanas. In accordance with this precedent, let a Brahmana of good character be invited, and offered much wealth; let him enable the wives of Vicitravirya to conceive offspring.”

Satyavati continued: “The son of Parasara, thus born of me in my maidenhood, has become a great sage, named Davaipayana. (p.14).

This proves that Bhisma has a wide knowledge and uses it wisely. Bhisma

shows his wisdom by suggesting to have Brahmana to continue the royal lines.

Bhisma’s wisdom can also be seen in the battlefield. Though Bhisma is a great

warrior and no one can defeat him in Kurukshetra war, his army also suffers

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battle field and wisely withdraws his army every time his army are seem cannot

continue to fight.

Then the terrible raksasa Ghatotkaca, beholding Bhima in that state, became excited with rage. He first made himself invincible. Creating a terrible illusion, he reappeared in a moment, assuming a fierce form, frightening the timid. When that prince of raksasa saw a division of the enemy advance, he uttered a fierce and thunderous roar. Hearing that roar, Bhisma said to Drona, “I do not like to fight today with the wicked Gathotkaca. He is incapable of being vanquished now by Indra himself. He is sure of aim, and endowed with great strength and energy, besides being well supported. As for ourselves, our animals are tired today. We have also been badly mangled by the Pancalas and Pandavas. I do not want a fresh encounter with the victorious Pandavas at this stage. Let the withdrawal of our army, therefore, be proclaimed for the day. Tomorrow we will fight with the foe.” (p.129).

The great warrior Bhisma wisely judges the situation of the battle field. He

can predict which side will win the war for that day. He withdraws his army right

away to prevent more losses of his army. So he can reduce the death of his army

and let them rest early so they can fight better on the next day. Bhisma’s wisdom

in arranging army and his decision to take has saved Hastinapura from

destruction.

4. Bhisma’s love for and care of his family and country

In the next event, his love feeling toward his father Santanu, makes

Bhisma willing to liberate the crown of Hastinapura kingdom which is his right as

the crown prince to his step mother, Satyavati descendent. The marriage between

Satyavati and Santanu are given two sons, Citrangada and Vicitravirya.

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Satyavati who is married to Ambika and Ambalika, king Kasi’s daughters, dies

without any heir.

This is the beginning point of the destruction of Hastinapura. Bhisma

loyalty to his family and country is truly tested. At that time Hastinapura’s royal

lineage has ended, because the only true descendent (Bhisma) has taken a vow of

celibacy and liberate his right to the crown of Hastinapura. By the suggestion of

Bhisma, Satyavati then takes his son Vyasa who is not a descendent of

Hastinapura to become king of Hastinapura and give sons to continue the royal

line. Thus sons are Dhrtarastra who is the father of Kauravas, also Pandu who is

the father of Pandavas, and the last is Vidura, the child of a royal servant. See tree

diagram at appendix 2.

Bhisma is a man who cares and loves his family very much. Though

Dhrtarastra, Pandu and Vidura are not his own sons, he treat them like his own.

He gives them all that he has; his knowledge, skill of arms, his wisdom, etc, in

order to make them the great men of Hastinapura.

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Bhisma is also concerned about his grandsons’ education. Bhisma tries to

seek an excellent teacher for them. He makes Drona as their teacher because he

wants them to grow up as an excellent ksatria.

When he heard that a stranger had arrived [in the Hastinapura], Bhisma knew that this must be Drona and decided that he was the right tutor for his grandsons. Welcoming Drona, he asked him why he had come to Hastinapura. Drona told him everything. Bhisma then appointed Drona as the preceptor and gave him various gifts. He presented his grandsons, including the sons of Pandu, according to the custom, and handed them over to Drona, who accepted them all as his pupils. (p.24).

Bhisma does not want his family destroyed. When he know that Pandavas

are still alive and save from Kauravas’ plot, he asks Dhrtarastra to give Pandava’s

right to prevent trouble in the future.

Bhisma said,”O Dhŗtarāşţra, I can never agree to fight with the sons of Pāņdu was as dear to me as you are. The sons of Gāndhārī and the sons of Kuńtī are equally dear to me. O Dhŗtarāşţra, you have as much a duty to protect them as I have. I do not like the prospect of a quarrel with them. Be reconciled with those heroes and give them some territory today, since this is hereditary kingdom of the Pāņdavas too.” (p.40).

His love to family is also seen when Drupada’s priest, Pandavas’ delegate,

comes to Hastinapura to give peace message from Padavas, Bhisma reminds every

one that peace is the only way to prevent war and it is not too late.

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Bhisma also tries to convince Duryodhana that the best way to put an end

to their conflict is by a peaceful way, though his word is rejected by Duryodhana.

Duryodhana become enraged on hearing the words of Krsna. Bhisma said to him, “Krsna has spoken as a friend whishing peace; listen to his words my dear son, and do not follow the lead of anger.” But Duyodhana did not heed Bhisma advice. (p. 106).

He loves his family so much and tries his best to prevent the destruction of

his family. He talks harsh way toward Karna in order to prevent Karna become

closer to Kauravas and because he does not want to see Pandavas kill their own

brother. He wants Karna reunite with his family, Pandavas, therefore Karna can

live happily with his true mother.

I tell you in all truth that I bear you no malice, but used harsh words against you only to curb you impetuosity. I know your prowess in battle, your devotion to Brahmanas, your bravery, and your great capacity for charity. Among men there is none to rival you, and indeed you resemble an immortal. I spoke to you harshly only in the hope of avoiding internal dissensions. You know the Pandavas are your brothers. If you desire to do what is agreeable to me, then be reconciled to them. (p.141).

Bhisma’s will to unite his family in peace continue even in his fall and his

body lying pierced with thousand of arrows, Bhisma is still trying to seduce

Duryodhana to make peace with Pandavas and let them have their rights.

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among the rules of the earth.” But Duryodhana was deaf even to this last appeal of Bhisma. (p. 140).

His wish to make peace between Pandavas and Kauravas is pure. He does

not want his family destroyed and killing each other. Though he knows he cannot

prevent this war because this war is fated by Gods, he keeps trying to make peace

between his family the the Kauravas and the Pandavas and for the live of his

people and country.

5. Responsible

No matter how great Bhisma’s attempt to unite his family, the descendent

of Dhrtarastra and Pandu are still fighting for the crown of Hastinapura that

caused The Bharatayudha war between the Kuravas and the Pandavas. In this

condition, once again Bhisma faced in a difficult choice, to become the head of

Kauravas army in order to maintain his loyalty toward Hastinapura kingdom,

although he knows that Kauravas have evil nature by taking Hastinapura crown

with wrong way through cheat and dishonest gamble dice.

The Bharatayudha war actually begins when there is crown right trade

between Dhrtarastra and Pandu, because Dhrtarastra is born blind, therefore when

Vyasa resigns from Hastinapura’s crown, Pandu is the one that crowned become

king of Hastinapura. Pandu have five sons, Pandavas, which named Yudhisthira,

Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. While Dhrtarastra have one hundred sons

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When Pandu died, his children (Pandavas) are still young, therefore

Dhrtarastra becomes king of Hastinapura replaces Pandu descendent (Pandavas)

temporary. This is the cause of the conflict between the Kauravas and Pandavas.

The Kauravas feel that they have better right for the Hastinapura kingdom,

because the one that become king is their father, and he is older than Pandu. The

Pandavas also feel that they have better right for Hastinapura kingdom, because

they are the descendent of Pandu who was crowned as king of Hastinapura by

their grandfather Vyasa. Here Bhisma acts as the only true descendent of

Hastinapura tested in Bharatayudha War in order to maintain Hastinapura

kingdom.

His responsibility toward family, country and his vow is seen when

Sikhandi is born, Bhisma already knows that the child will be the cause of his

death in the future. He does not want to fight Sikhandi, which is the reincarnation

of Amba because he feels responsible for Amba’s suffering even though it is not

entirely his own fault.

Bhisma concluded, “Thus it happened that the eldest daughter of king Kasi, known by the name of Amba, was born in the family of Drupada as Sikhandi. I know these facts about the birth of Sikhandi, and hence I will not slay him in any battle, even though he advances weapon in hand.” (p.120).

His responsibility toward family, country and his vow, have made

him sacrifice himself and give up all his rights, personal interests and even his

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6. Religious

One of Bhisma’s religiousness is seen when the fight between Bhisma and

Parasurama reach its peak, Bhisma wants to end this fight and takes his ultimate

weapon. When he tries to summon his weapon, the gods prevent him to use it in

order to prevent a further damage to the nature. As a religious person, Bhisma

obeys gods’ words.

“When all creatures, as well as the gods, the asuras, and the raksasa, began to utter exclamations of woe, I thought, ‘This is the time,’ and contemplated shooting my cherished weapon Prasvapa, according to the words of command of the Brahmanas. I also remembered the spells for using that weapon. A mighty din of tumultuous voices then arose in the sky saying, ‘O Bhisma, do not release the Prasvapa weapon.’ Thereupon I withdrew it, and let the Brahmana weapon blaze forth according the scriptures. Seeing that the Prasvapa weapon was withdrawn, Parasurama was greatly exited and said, ‘Fool that I am, I am vanquished by Bhisma. (p. 118).

His religiousness can also be seen when he faces Krsna in the battle field.

Krsna approaches him with eagerness and killing passion. He does not fear instead

he feels very happy. Bhisma already knows that Krsna is the incarnation of Visnu,

therefore for him it is a blessing to end his life in the hands of this god.

Beholding that foremost of men, the devine Krsna, advancing against him armed with the cakra, Bhisma fearlessly said, “Come, O Lord, the universe is your abode! I bow to you, who armed with mace, sword, and bow! O Lord of the universe, who is refuge of all creatures in this battle, throws me down from this car! Slain here by you, O Krsna, great will be my good fortune both in this world and the next! Great is the honour you shoe me, O lord! My fame will be celebrated in the three worlds!” (p. 128).

From the text above we can see that Bhisma is a religious person. He

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7. Noble and Holy

Bhisma is also a character with big heart and holy. This is seen when he

proposes the daughter of the fisherman for his father. After knowing the cause of

his father’s uneasiness, Bhisma hurries to meet the fisherman’s family. After

hearing the fisherman’s demand, immediately he makes a vow that harms himself.

The truthful Devavrata, knowing what was in the fisherman’s mind and anxious to do good to his father, then said, “O chief of the fishermen, listen to the vow I now take for the sake of my father before all these chiefs. O chief, I gave up my right to the throne only a few moments ago. I shall now settle the question that has arisen in respect of my issue. O fisherman, from this day I adopt the vow of celibacy. Even if I am without issue, I shall still attain the everlasting regions.”(p.10)

He is very loyal to his vow, father (family), and his country. He keeps his

vow firmly without any intention, pure and not regretting on what he has done

(his vow). His pure love to his father and the will to sacrifice himself touch the

Gods, who named him as Bhisma which means a holy and wise man. From the

sky all the gods and goddesses praise him and call him Bhisma, the one who has

said a very heavy vow and will truly do it, is a holy and wise man. His willing to

sacrifice himself reflects his nobleness.

His devotion willing to sacrifice that shown by Bhisma for his father by

taking vow of celibacy, make his father Santanu give him a gift of being able to

choose his own death time from his father, reflects his nobleness. He chooses an

impossible time to die, when the sun drawn to the east but because of his holiness

and nobleness, the gods grant his wish.

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