HUMAN SHIELD: A BROKEN ARMOUR

One of the most interesting episodes in Hindu mythology is the death of Bhishma. Gangaputra Bhishma had the gift of choosing the moment of his death. Bhishma could not be killed unless he lowered his bow in battle. He would lower his bow only before a woman but no woman was allowed to enter the battlefield. Thus the idea of using Shikhandi surfaced. Shikhandi was born a woman, raised as a man, and later acquired male genitals from a Yaksha. He was taken into battle as Arjuna’s body armor. Bhisma refused to fight him/her. Arjuna took advantage of this and using Shikhandi as a shield, Arjuna shot arrows at Bhishma, piercing his entire body. Finally, Bhishma gave up the fight. Maybe it was impossible for the Gandibdhaari to kill Bhishma all by himself and thus he used Shikhandi as a HUMAN SHIELD to kill Bhishma. This piece from the Mahabharata episode provides us with one of the first accounts of Human Shield. For complete article read from vidhikarya

Link: https://www.vidhikarya.com/legal-blog/human-shield-a-broken-armour