Ambālikā

Ambālikā was the youngest of the three princesses of Kāśī. Bhīṣma carried the three sisters off at their svayaṃvara (the ceremony where a princess chooses her husband) for his half-brother Vicitravīrya. After Vicitravīrya died without a son, Ambālikā became one of the two widows through whom Satyavatī arranged niyoga with the ṛṣi Vyāsa. Niyoga is an arrangement under which a ṛṣi fathers a son for a king who has died without issue. The aim was to continue the Kuru line.

When Vyāsa came to her, Ambālikā turned pale with fear. She did not close her eyes, but the blood drained from her face. Her son Pāṇḍu was born pale as a result. This paleness gave him his name, Pāṇḍu (the pale one), and stayed with him as a lasting mark of his birth.

Abduction and marriage

Ambālikā was the youngest of the three daughters of the king of Kāśī whom Bhīṣma carried off for Vicitravīrya. The eldest, Ambā, was released because she had already given her heart to Śālva. Ambālikā and Ambikā became the wives of Vicitravīrya. After seven years of marriage Vicitravīrya died of kṣaya (a wasting illness) without having a child.

The niyoga with Vyāsa

Satyavatī arranged for the ṛṣi Vyāsa to father sons on Vicitravīrya’s widows through niyoga. When Vyāsa came to Ambālikā, she turned pale with fear. Ambikā had closed her eyes, but Ambālikā stayed present and looked at him, and the blood drained from her face.

The son born of this union was Pāṇḍu. He came into the world pale in his whole body. This was the direct result of his mother’s paleness at the time of his conception.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Sambhava Parva, Chapters 102–105