The Garland of Blue Lotuses

Hell hath no fury...

...like a woman spurned, it is said. And here was Amba spurned twice! Amba, the eldest daughter of the king of Kashi, was whisked away by Bheeshma along with her two sisters, as brides for his young step-brother Vichitraveerya. The king of Shalva was one among the various princes and kings defeated by Bheeshma, in the process.

Back in Hastinapura, Amba refused to marry Vichitraveerya as she wanted to marry the king of Shalva. Bheeshma sent her to him but she was turned away by a humiliated king of Shalva. Amba, who was the incarnation of the Vasu Dyu’s wife, approached Bheeshma, who was Dyu himself. But Bheeshma declared that he was bound by his vow of celibacy.

A terribly furious Amba prayed to lord Kartikeya, and was given a divine garland of blue lotuses with the assurance that whosoever wore the garland would become the cause of Bheeshma’s death. But not a single person was ready to accept the garland. In frustration she threw it at the palace of Drupada, where it remained unclaimed yet fresh, for many years. Then Amba performed severe penance to appease lord Shiva who finally granted her the boon that she would be able to cause Bheeshma’s death in her next life. In order to hasten the prophecy Amba gave up her body and was reborn as Shikandini, to Drupada and his wife.

The journey of Shikandini to Shikandi

Raised as a boy, she was even married off to the princess of Dasharna. When the truth about her sex reached the ears of her father-in-law, Shikandini fled to the forest to give up her life to save that of her father’s, as her father-in-law threatened to kill him.

In the forest, a Gandharva heard her pathetic story, and moved, offered her his masculinity for a short while. Shikandini did not actually gain masculinity on her own but the presence of a part of the Gandharva within her, ensured that she looked and acted as a man. And strangely the new body bore great resemblance to her previous’. Thus Shikandini came back to the palace and proved his manliness and placated his father-in-law. When Shikandini returned to the forest to regain her original feminity, it came to light that the Gandharva had been cursed by Kubera to remain a woman so long as Shikandini lived.

Overjoyed at the unexpected turn of events, Shikandini, came back happily to the palace and in an exuberant mood, wore the long discarded divine garland of blue lotuses. Drupada immediately knew that this son of his would one day cause the death of the indomitable Bheeshmacharya.

Shikandini who eventually came to be known as Shikhandi, became a valourous warrior in his own right.