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The Roots of War
 The story of Amba branches off from the main stream of Mahabharata paving the way for an irreprehensible anger that remained unquenched, crossed one whole lifetime, continued in the rebirth, and this story of Amba prepares the ground for the decisive turn that the war took with the fall of Bhishma. It was this incident that took place in the very beginning of the story, even before the birth of the Pandavas and Kauravas, that was responsible for the way events took shape on the tenth day of the Great War.
Amba was sent to the King of Salwa since she expressed the desire to marry him. (See:
He seeds his death) However, the King of Salwa, who with uncontrollable rage followed Bhishma for the sake of love, refused to accept her any more. ‘You were carried off in the presence of so many kings. Despite my attempts, Bhishma could not be stopped and you were carried to the palace of another king. I cannot accept you now, as you were taken to another palace with the intention of being given in marriage to another king. I don’t have any use for you any more,’ said the King of Salwa bluntly.
Amba came back to Chitrangada but it was too late. Chitrangada had the same kind of reasons for not accepting her. She made many a trip between Hastinapur and the kingdom of Salwa, not able to find a suitor for herself. Left with no other option, she even pleaded with Bhishma to marry her. ‘I am bound by my vow of celibacy,’ said Bhishma firmly. ‘It is not possible for me to marry you. I won’t give up my vow for your sake.’
Six years rolled off during which time Amba made several trips to the kingdom of Salwa and Hastinapur, pleading with Salwa Raja and with Bhishma. Finally, she decided to perform penance, in the Himalayas. She was vexed with her condition and raged in her heart against Bhishma, who was responsible for her pitiable condition. She stood on the big toe and invoked Lord Subramanya. The Lord blessed her with a necklace of golden lotuses. ‘Bhishma would be killed,’ He told her, ‘by the person who wears this necklace.’
 Amba took the necklace to almost all the kings and narrated them her story. ‘This necklace is given by Lord Subramanya. He has promised that the one who wears this would be able to kill Bhishma. Please accept this and please kill him.’ But none of the kings who knew the invincible prowess of Bhishma came forward to do so. She went to King Dhrupada, (father of Draupadi), and requested him to help her. As he also turned her back, Amba hung the necklace on the outer wall of the fort of King Dhrupada and left the place. That necklace remained there on the wall for a long number of years since people were afraid of even touching it.
Crestfallen and heartbroken, Amba even approached Parasurama, the terror of Kshatriyas, the Brahmin sage who axed twenty-one generations of kings down, and pleaded with him to help her get married to Bhishma. Parasurama came forward to help her and fought a duel with Bhishma for her sake. He could not overpower Bhishma and gave up his effort.
Amba once again undertook a penance. Lord Shiva appeared before her and told her that Bhishma would die because of her, in her next birth. She was very impatient to wait for her next birth and sought her death by performing self-immolation. She was born to King Dhrupada, as his daughter and was named Sikhandini. The divine will had ordained the events in another way. A Yaksha by name Sthunakarna exchanged his manhood with her and Sikhandini became Sikhandi. That is quite another story, however.
Sikhandi grew up to be an excellent warrior. In fact, Duryodhana, when describing the warriors assembled on the other side to Bhishma rates him as
maharathi. The 17th Sloka of Chapter 1 of Bhagavad-Gita, which is a part of the speech of Duryodhana, says as follows:
‘kasyas ca paramesvasah Sikhandi cha maharatha’ The King of Kasi is an excellent archer and Sikhandi is a
maharatha, a commander of eleven thousand bowmen. If it is kept in mind that Bhishma ranked even Karna as
‘ardha-rathi’ a half or semi-charioteer, the prowess of Sikhandi could be understood.
 ‘I cannot be stopped until I have the bow in hand,’ smiled Bhishma on the ninth evening of the war to Yudhisthira, who approached him for vital information on how to kill him. ‘I will resist you all fiercely in the battlefield, because I owe such a duty to the king. But I won’t fight if Sikhandi stands by your side, Arjuna. He was really a she earlier. Bhishma won’t bend and draw his bow against a woman. That is the only way to stop me. That is the only way to kill me.’
It was Bhishma, the great soul, who gave the vital clue on how he could be felled. His heart was with Dharma and was for the success of Pandavas, though he was bound by his vow to the protection of the throne of Hastinapur. He did his duty and at the same time, he was willing to accept death with a smile, for the sake of Dharma. That was the most vital turning point in the war. The Kauravas had an upper hand until the ninth day and their destabilisation started from the tenth day, with the fall of Bhishma.
Hari Krishnan
harikrishnan@vsnl.net
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