Sikhandini

Sikhandini is an intriguing character that appears in the Mahabharata. She was the reincarnation of Amba, one of the three daughters of the King of Kasi that were spirited away by Bhisma just after a Swayamvara (a test of strength held to find a suitable husband for a bride, usually a princess), and the route or the path that she took to gain her revenge is interesting, to say the least.  

Bhisma by spiriting away Amba, had caused her to be spurned by the person that she had set her heart on, the Prince of Saubala, Salva, and a distraught Amba, pleaded with Bhisma to reunite her with the person that she loved most, and despite Bhisma’s attempts to do so, Salva wouldn’t have her back.

She then asked Bhisma to marry her but he could not do so because he had taken the vow of celibacy.

Her unrequited love eventually turned to anger, and an angry Amba sought her revenge by first looking for suitable warriors to take on Bhisma but no warrior was brave enough to test his mettle against the son of Ganga, the daughter of Brahma. Bhisma just by his lineage alone, without taking into account his accomplishments, was destined to be great and was almost impossible to defeat.

Brahma however was equaled in power by the other two divinities in the Hindu trinity, Vishnu and Shiva, and it was ultimately Shiva who granted her the boon that enabled her to defeat Bhisma.

Amba undertook severe austerities and gained the friendship of Lord Subrahmanya. He took kindly to Amba and gave her a garland of flowers promising her that anyone who wore the garland of flowers around his neck would be able to defeat Bhisma.

Amba searched high and low for a champion but no warrior was game enough to take on Bhisma, even with the garland of flowers around his neck, and a distraught Amba left the garland hanging on the gates of King Drupada’s palace and went into the forest.

There she befriended the hermits and sages who resided in the forest. They took kindly to her and advised her to seek the aid of Parashurama, the Vishnu incarnate who had defeated every warrior in the Kysastria clan.

Amba soon after started meditating upon Parashurama and in time Parashurama appeared before her and promised to grant her anything that her heart desired. Amba wished for the defeat of Bhisma, and Parashurama accordingly took to the battlefield but was eventually forced to admit that even he could not defeat the son of Ganga.

A distraught Amba then fled to the Himalayas and there she meditated upon the mountain mendicant Shiva who appeared before her in time and assured her that she would defeat Bhisma in her next birth.

Unable to restrain herself, Amba built a fire and threw herself into the flames and by the grace of Shiva, she was reborn as the daughter of King Drupada. When she was a child, she found the garland hanging on King Drupada’s palace gates. She put it around her neck and as soon as she did so, her memories from her past life came flooding back. She then retreated into the forest to meditate.

She called upon the powers of the rakshashas and acquired not only their strength but also their ability to shape-shift and transformed into the man who defeated Bhisma in Kurukshetra.

Bhisma, by virtue of his birth could not be defeated by any man, mortal or celestial, but he could be bested by a woman.

Kathiresan Ramachanderam 2019