One day Amba left the palace and retired into the forest. She lived the hard life of an ascetic, fasting and doing penance, tormenting herself until she was reduced to a skeleton.
So great was the power of her penance that one day Lord Shiva appeared before her and asked her what she desired.
She cried out, "I want Bhishma to be defeated and that I may, with my own hands, bring about his death, for he has destroyed me".
"There is no one in the world, dear child, who can defeat Bhishma, for he is blessed by the Gods," Lord Shiva answered gently. But your penance will not be in vain, and your desire shall be fulfilled."
He gave her a boon, that in her next birth she would slay Bhishma.
Impatient for her rebirth she made a pyre, and gave herself up to the flames.
Amba was reborn as the daughter of king Drupada of Panchala. When she grew up, she went to the forest and again prayed and fasted. In time she was changed into a male and came to be known as the warrior Shikhandi.
Vichitraveerya had not been married long when he died childless. His mother Satyawati begged Bhishma to ascend the throne and marry Ambika and Ambalika. But Bhishma declined. In despair Satyawati meditated upon the sage Vyasa, who appeared before her.
With his blessings, Ambika, Ambalika and a maidservant of Ambalika- each gave birth to a son called, respectively, Dhritarashtra, Pandu and Vidur. Dhritarashtra was elder to Pandu but since he was born blind, it was Pandu who first ascended the throne. | |