As per Mahabharata there was a princes of Kashi called Amba
who was in secretly love with prince Shalva the king of Saubala. She had two
younger sisters Ambika & Ambalika. One fine day king of Kashi declared
Swayamvara for her three daughters. Amba was about to select Shalva as her
husband in that Swayamvara. But suddenly Bhishma arrived in Swayamvara &
abducted all the three princess as a bride to his younger step brother
Vichitravirya. Bhishma did it on command of his step-mother Satyavati as King
of Kashi did not sent invitation to Kuru dynasty as he found Vichitravirya is inferior
to him. So Satyavati wants to teach him a lesson.
Amba begged in front of Vichitravirya to let her go to
Shalva her love. Vichitravirya also allowed her; as he already had two wives.
When Amba approached Shalva he denied to accept her as she was touched by
another men. Pity Amba returned towards Vichitravirya & requested him to
accept her. But fortune wasn’t in favor of Amba Vichitravirya also rejected her
saying; he had gifted her to someone & he can’t take his gift back.
Amba was in big shock. She went to Bhishma & begged him
to marry with her. But Bhishma was not able to help her as he had taken a bow
of celibacy as per the wish of his stepmother. So he gave two options to Amba
either you should go back to your father or stay here as a maid.
After all Amba was a princes; Bhishma’s advice to become a
servant hurt her. She shouted on Bhishma “You are the one who abducted me &
dragged in this hell where I have to suffer for rest of my life. You are the
whole responsible for my miserable life; you have to & you will suffer for
sure.”
A furious & mighty Amba refused to return to her father.
She was looking for a revenge. She came across some monks who console her &
suggested to meet Parshurama. The Parshurama was a sage who is extremely
talented & greatest warrior. He is also known for his hate towards Kshatriyas.
Amba explained her situation to Parshurama. Parshurama gave her two options
either I would convince Shalva to accept you or defeat Bhishma. Amba asked him
for second option; she wants to see a defeated Bhishma. Parshurama accepted her
request & went to Kurukshetra. He sent message to Bhishma of his arrival in
Hastinapuri. Bhishma welcomed Parshurama; and gave respect as a Guru. Pleased
by this treatment Parshurama requested Bhishma to accept Amba as her wife.
Bhishma refused by restating that he had taken a bow of celibacy. Parshurama
became angry & threatened Bhishma to be ready for his death. Bhishma
politely accepted his war invitation.
Kurukshetra was about to witness a grand war between two
biggest warriors of the time. Ganga the mother of Bhishma, tried to break the
ice between them but her attempt was failed miserably. The war went on for 23
days which is more than Mahabharata which was finished in 18 days. On 24th
day Bhishma had no other choice to select a deadliest weapon Prashwapastra to
finish the war. By seeing this weapon terrified
sages & especially Narad-Muni interrupted their war & requested both to
stop the war & avoid massive destruction may cause. Both the exhausted
warriors accepted his request & war was declared as a draw.
Amba was very disappointed by this news but she was still
determined for her revenge. So she started to pray Karthikeya, the god of war.
He gave her a garland of evergreen lotuses & whoever accept this garland
will be able to kill Bhishma. Amba was very happy with this boon. She
approached all the great warriors & enemies’ of Kuru dynasty. But no one
had a courage to accept that garland. So she requested Drupada a king of
Panchala who has rivalry with Drona a royal teacher of Kuru dynasty. When
Drupada also let her down; out of frustration she flung the garland & it
landed on one of the pillar of Drupada’s palace.
Now Amba was pretty sure that only Mahadev can help her. She
became a devotee of Lord Shiva. Shiva appeared in front of her be seeing rigorous
austerities & told “As Bhishma’s vow of celibacy granted him a boon of
deciding time of his death. You can be a just reason of his death only & it
is not possible to you in this life.”
Hearing this she jumped into fire & killed herself. She
was born as Drupada’s daughter Shikhandi in her next birth & helped Pandava’s
to defeat Bhishma.
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