Ambā

Ambā was the eldest of the three princesses of Kāśī. Bhīṣma carried her off from her svayaṃvara (the ceremony where a princess chooses her husband). Her heart was already given to Śālva, so Bhīṣma sent her back, but Śālva refused her and Vicitravīrya would not accept her.

Left with no place and no husband, Ambā blamed Bhīṣma and gave her whole life to bringing about his death. She went to ascetics and kings, and finally to Paraśurāma, who fought Bhīṣma for twenty-three days and could not defeat him. She then did twelve years of hard tapas (austerity). Bhagavān Śiva gave her a vara (boon): she would be reborn in Drupada’s line as a male and cause Bhīṣma’s death. She gave up her life in a fire at Yamunādvīpa and was reborn as Śikhaṇḍī, the warrior who stood before Bhīṣma at Kurukṣetra on the tenth day. Seeing him, Bhīṣma lowered his bow and accepted Arjuna’s arrows.

The svayaṃvara at Kāśī and the abduction

Bhīṣma acted as protector of the Kuru line for his half-brother Vicitravīrya. He came uninvited to the svayaṃvara of the three daughters of the king of Kāśī: Ambā, Ambikā and Ambālikā. He challenged all the kings who had gathered, defeated them, and took the three princesses by force to Hastināpura.

Ambā tells Bhīṣma and is rejected

After reaching Hastināpura, Ambā told Bhīṣma that in her heart she had already chosen Śālva, the king of Śālvadeśa, before the svayaṃvara. She had been about to garland him when Bhīṣma stopped it. She was not free to marry Vicitravīrya.

Bhīṣma accepted that she had spoken truly and sent her to Śālva with an escort. But Śālva would not take her back. Another man had carried her away, even if only for a short time, and he felt the honour of accepting her was lost. He sent her away.

Ambā returned to Hastināpura. Vicitravīrya also refused her, because he would not marry a woman who had gone to another. She was left with no place, no husband and no help. She held Bhīṣma wholly to blame.

Looking for a champion

For years Ambā looked for someone who would make Bhīṣma put things right. He must either marry her himself or face the result. She went to various rājarṣis (royal seers), ascetics and kings, and most of them refused.

Among those she met was the rājarṣi Hotravāhana, her mother’s father. He told her to go to Paraśurāma on Mahendra parvata. She also met the ṛṣi Śaikhāvatya, and then Akṛtavraṇa, the disciple of Paraśurāma, who took her request to his teacher. Paraśurāma agreed to take up her cause.

The battle of Paraśurāma and Bhīṣma

Paraśurāma met Bhīṣma and told him to marry Ambā, to arrange her marriage, or to fight. Bhīṣma refused every course except the fight. His vow made marriage impossible, and he would not arrange a marriage for her under pressure.

The two met on the field of Kurukṣetra and fought for twenty-three days. Teacher and disciple each used supreme weapons, and neither gave way. The Mahābhārata tells of it as one of its greatest duels.

During the battle the eight Vasus came to Bhīṣma in a dream and gave him the Prasvāpana astra (weapon), the weapon of divine sleep. When Bhīṣma was ready to use it, Nārada Maharṣi came and stopped him. The pitṛdevatās (ancestral devas) of Paraśurāma’s line and Gaṅgā herself also appeared and pleaded for the fight to end.

Paraśurāma saw these appeals from his own ancestors and withdrew. He told Ambā plainly that he could not defeat Bhīṣma and that she must find another way.

Twelve years of tapas

Ambā did twelve years of severe tapas at one sacred tīrtha (pilgrimage place) after another:

  • Nandāśrama
  • Ulūkāśrama
  • Cyavanāśrama
  • the Brahmasthāna
  • Prayāga
  • Devayajana
  • Devāraṇya
  • Bhogavatī
  • Kauśikāśrama
  • Māṇḍavyāśrama
  • Dilīpāśrama
  • Rāmahrada
  • Pailagarga āśrama

At each place she made her tapas harder. Her one aim in all of it was the death of Bhīṣma.

During this time Gaṅgā appeared and warned her. If she kept to this burning hatred, she would become a river with a crooked course. The tradition names the Ambā river that flows through Vatsa-deśa as the river form Ambā took during part of her long wandering.

The vara from Bhagavān Śiva

After twelve years Bhagavān Śiva (Mahādeva) appeared and gave Ambā a vara (a boon). She asked for the power to kill Bhīṣma. Bhīṣma was protected by a divine safeguard, so Bhagavān Śiva gave her what could be given. She would be reborn as a male in Drupada’s line, and in that body she would cause Bhīṣma’s death at Kurukṣetra.

Her end at Yamunādvīpa

At Yamunādvīpa, an island in the Yamunā, Ambā built a pyre and gave up her life in the fire, her mind fixed on her purpose alone. The Ambā river of Vatsa-deśa, the river form she had in part taken on during her tapas, remained as a trace of her long wandering.

Rebirth as Śikhaṇḍī

Ambā was reborn as a daughter of Drupada, king of Pāñcāla. Drupada’s queen feared being left without a son and declared the girl to be a boy. The child was raised as Śikhaṇḍī. She was given the male saṃskāras (rites of life) and trained as a warrior. The memory of her former life stayed with Śikhaṇḍī and drove her single aim, the end of Bhīṣma.

Sources

  • Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Sambhava Parva, Chapters 102–104
  • Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, Ambopākhyāna Parva, Chapters 173–192