This story
starts from Section 174 of Book 5. Bhishma tells the story himself, since he
was involved in it from the very beginning. Whatever he was not witness to, he
says he got to know through spies he had employed in the territory where Amba
(who later became Shikandin) lived and also from Narada.
In short,
Amba is the eldest of three daughters of the king of Kasi. The other two are
Ambika and Ambalika. Bhishma abducted all three of them (this practice was accepted
among the Kshatriyas in those days and is listed as one of eight different
kinds of marriages), during their swayamvara.
He did that so they can be married to Bhishma’s half-brother Vichitravirya.
Amba had
already chosen another king and therefore, she requests Bhishma and Satyavati
for her to be allowed to go to her chosen prince. Bhishma agrees. When Amba
goes to the prince she had chosen, he refuses to accept her, since she had allowed
herself to be abducted by Bhishma. She comes back to Bhisma and requests him to
marry her since she now will not have a husband and cannot go back to her
father. Bhishma refuses to because of his vow not to marry.
Amba decides
to take revenge on Bhisma since he was the immediate cause of her problems. She
goes to the forest to do penance. The ascetics try to dissuade her but cannot.
It so happens that her maternal grandfather who had taken up asceticism comes
by and he wants to use the help of Parasurama, his friend. Since Bhishma was
Parasurama’s student, he thinks that Parasurama can get Bhishma to agree to
marry Amba.
Bhishma
refuses even though he realizes that he is being disrespectful of his teacher.
Parasurama who had promised Amba he will make Bhishma accept her gets mad and
wants to fight with Bhishma. Bhishma does not want to fight with his teacher,
but Parasurama insists and provokes. In the fight that goes for 23 days,
neither wins. Both Parasurama’s ancestors (all Brahmins) and Bhishma’s
ancestors (all Kshatriyas) intercede and make them stop the fight. Amba is left
without a solution for her problem. She is even more angry.
Amba
performs intense tapas (meditative
sacrifice) which “burns up” Lord Shiva. He gives her a boon that in her next
life she will be able to fight with Bhishma. Amba immolates herself.
In the
meanwhile, the King of Kasi who wants a son performs penance. Lord Shiva
blesses him with a son. But, he is also told that the child will be born a girl,
but will become a boy later in life. Knowing this the king and the queen do not
let anyone know that a girl was born. They conceal and raise her as a boy. This
is Amba in the new birth. This is Shikandi, but goes by the name of Shikandini
during life as a girl.
When
Shikandini (who will become Shikandi later as per Shiva’s boon) reaches the
proper age, the king decides to find a suitable “girl” even though he knew that
his child was still a girl. Marriage is performed, the girl finds out the
truth, tells her parents. The enraged father of the girl decided to attack
Shikandi’s father. Shikandi is sad that all of this happened on “his” account.
He goes to a special palace of a Yaksha in the forest. The Yaksha finds out the
problem and feels sorry for the girl/boy. The yaksha offers to switch his personal
manhood with Shikandini for a brief period.
Shikandini
goes back and everyone is delighted to know the prince is a prince, a male
(Interesting that he was checked out by girls and women about his manhood. The
story does not say how). In the meanwhile, Kubera, the Chief of the Yakshas
comes for a visit, finds out what had happened, finds the Yaksha turned into a
woman, gets mad and curses that he will remain a girl as long as Shikandi
lives.
That is the
story. But, the conversations deal with the ethical questions related to the
episode. For example, “Human suffering depends on what is destined to happen.
But, are there immediate precedent causes which are not part of destiny?”
Abduction
was destined to happen. But, Bhishma was the one who did it. Therefore, he is
the one who has to be punished. The Salwa king refused; that was only because
of what Bhishma did. Therefore, Amba thinks she should not take revenge on that
king. Another statement made by the queen of Kasi when the world finds out that
their so-called son was actually a girl says:
“Divine grace combined with human effort leads to success”.
So, who was
at fault: Amba (for staying quiet during the abduction), her father (for
arranging the swayamvara), Bhishma (for abducting her and later refusing to
marry her), the King of Salwa who refused to accept her? Later, why should
Parasurama interfere and demand Bhishma do what he has sworn against? Can
Bhishma refuse his preceptor? Can Bhishma fight with his preceptor who also is
a Brahmana?
Rigid stance
for their respective positions by Bhishma, Salwa, Parasurama and Amba was at
the center of these conflicts. It shows that one should not break a vow for
anything. But, rigidity leads to discord. Being flexible may be practical but will
result in losing trust in relationships.
All these
questions and points of view are discussed in several chapters. I wish the
story-tellers (bhagavatars) will spend one session on these chapters and all
the ethical points. They only tell the story part. Most folks also are happy
with the story and the verbal and memory capacity of the story-teller, not in
the substance.
I found two
interesting points, in addition to those ethical questions. 1. Throughout Maha
Bharatha, “destiny” was given as an explanation for everything, including the
war itself. 2. Gods gave boon to people and, also gave conditions under which
the boon will work. If the boon was invincibility, there was always a condition
in which that invincibility will be lost.
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