In this episode, we’re back into the Mahabharat!
I had originally intended to continue the story of Satyavati and Bhishma and Ambika and Ambalika’s problem of finding a successor. But I’ll leave that for later.
Let’s continue the story of Amba, the princess of Kashi who seems to have terrible luck.
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you could either check out links to the earlier episodes in the show notes. Or just hang on to your hats! I’m going to give you a quick recap of the story so far.
Shantanu ruled Hastinapur in Ancient India. His son, Bhishma, would have been Emperor after him. Except the boy blew it all away just so that his daddy could marry a ferry operator called Satyavati. Bhishma didn’t just give up the throne, he also promised never to marry himself or have children. If that sounded like a bad idea then, it got terrible not long after. Because in just the space of a couple of episodes, first Shantanu, then his two sons passed away. Leaving no heirs behind. The only people left behind were Bhishma and Satyavati and Satyavati’s two daughters-in-law Ambika and Ambalika. There was supposed to be a third daughter-in-law there because Bhishma had abducted three princesses from Kashi to be married to Vichitravirya, the crown prince of Hastinapur. The third princess was Amba. This is her story.
Amba stepped out of the palace in Hastinapur. She stood just outside the palace gates at a crossroads wondering where she should head. A nagging voice inside her head spoke up. “Maybe I should reminisce about some recent events,” she thought. “It’s been almost 2 months since Narada did the previous Mahabharat episode. Some more details will help”
So she recalled how only a month ago, she was looking forward to domestic bliss as Mrs. Salva at her Swayamvar, or Groom reveal party.
She and Salva had agreed – she would choose Salva and the two of them would live happily ever after. But then Bhishma had upset the whole apple cart. And he’d also upset all the assembled guests at the Swayamvar. And humiliated them besides.
He’d abducted Amba, Ambika, and Amablika and taken them back to Hastinapur. Also injuring Salva when he tried to intervene.
Bhishma had been generous after learning the truth and let her go to Salva. But Salva didn’t accept her because in his patriarchal code of conduct he viewed Bhishma to have sole rights to her, because he had abducted her. Bhishma disagreed and said his oath stopped him but the Salva was her rightful partner. So the poor girl was treated like a ping pong ball. She made trips back and forth until she decided she had had enough.
So that’s the state she was in outside the Hastinapur palace gates. She was at a crossroads. Unsure where to go. Should she go back to Kashi? That was unappealing. Take another crack at Salva? Or somewhere else to clear her mind?
A group of rishis was passing by just then. They made casual conversation. When the rishis found that Amba had no food or shelter, they offered their homes.
Now an offer to take in a stranger into your home or the acceptance of such an offer by said stranger is definitely not something that works in today’s world. But in Ancient India, it would be considered rude if the rishis had not invited Amba.
She went along and stayed not just that night. But a few more nights as well. It was exactly the break she needed. And she did clear her mind. She had asked herself who was responsible for her current situation? Was it Shalva who rejected her despite their engagement? Was it her father for arranging the Swayamvar in the first place? Or was it she, herself, for not having escaped from Bhishma’s chariot when he was distracted temporarily by Shalva and the other Kings? But no. She firmly landed on the conclusion that the only person responsible was Bhishma. In abducting her from her Swayamvar, and in rejecting her proposal at a time when she would have been okay to accept him as her husband.
The next question was what she should do about it.
She confided in the Rishis. They did not express too strong an opinion on whether Bhishma should indeed be considered responsible. They were in the Hastinapur jurisdiction after all. But the Rishis did suggest to her a course of action.
“Why don’t you go back to your father?” said one Rishi
“To the scene of the crime in Kashi? What for?” asked Amba. “My father and all his army couldn’t lift a finger when Bhishma was on their turf. What’s he going to do about it now?”
“Wait a minute, you’re the princess of Kashi?” asked one older Rishi who had just joined the group that day. “Not little Amba by any chance?” he asked
Amba stared at him for a moment and then a realization hit her. “Grandpa!” said Amba, because that’s who the rishi was. It was Hotravahana, Amba’s maternal grandfather who had become a rishi.
After the usual reunion and catching up that you might expect from a grandparent and a grandchild after years, Hotravahana had a different suggestion than what the other rishis had offered. “Don’t go back to Kashi. I have a better idea. Do you know Parshuram?” he asked Amba.
“Of course, who doesn’t?” asked Amba. “He’s an avatar of Vishnu and was featured on Narada Muni’s podcast a month ago”
“Well, not everyone listening to this may have heard that episode, so let me add by way of exposition that Parshuram has a short temper and he has sworn to destroy warriors all over. So go tell him your story. Then watch the drama unfold.”
Thinking this was sound advice, Amba proceeded to do exactly that. Amba and her grandpa made for Parshuram’s place. They were greeted by a polite rishi.
“Hi, I’m Akritvrana. Parshuram is out at the moment. But your grievance/prayer/appeal is important to us. Would you like to make an appointment? The earliest I have is next week.” he said, rifling through a calendar
“Well, I’m not sure I can wait that long,” said Amba.
“An urgent case eh?” asked Akritvrana. “Suppose you tell me everything and maybe I’ll see if I can squeeze you in earlier”
So Amba did. When she was done, Akritvrana had a question: “So what would you like Parshuram to help you with? Do you want him to talk to Shalva so that Shalva can marry you? Or do you want him to fight Bhishma for you?”
“I’ll take the fight with Bhishma option please,” said Amba.
Akritvrana nodded his head and agreed. He dispatched a message and within minutes Parshuram himself appeared before them. Akritvrana greeted his boss. “It’s a type 2-C sir, but there’s an additional….” he said.
“Hmm, type 2-C.,” said Parshuram not fully hearing Akritvrana. “Payback for abducting a Princess. Pass me my bow Akrit. Lady, have no fear, I’ll put your abductor on the extinct list faster than you can say Parshuram. He’ll never do something like this again. Akrit, who is the perp.?” asked Parshuram.
“Bhishma,” said Akrit
“Bhishma?! The Bhishma?” asked Parshuram. “He did this? But he’s my student”
“He’s made some poor choices sir. If you recall I had advised you back when he was studying not to give him an A+ grade”
“Grades are not germane to this issue right now” snapped back Parshuram. “Give me some more details here of what’s happened”
So Amba narrated everything all over again. Parshuram was sympathetic. “Yes, Princess. I agree completely. It’s Bhishma’s crime. I’ll slay him for you. This is going to require some preparation and some specialized equipment. Akrit, gimme the keys to the arsenal”
So Parshuram went off to prepare to destroy Bhishma. A thought nagged him all the time. How could he destroy Bhishma when Bhishma had complete control over when and how he could die? Parshuram knew about the boon Bhishma had received from Shantanu of course.
After a few days of preparation, Parshuram armed with several weapons made for Kurukshetra. He sent a message to Bhishma that he was waiting for him there. Bhishma did what any student would do when receiving a message from a teacher they had respected. He dropped everything and went straight to meet him.
When Bhishma arrived, Parshuram was armed and ready with his first weapon: Diplomacy. They exchanged pleasantries, after which Parshuram tried emotional blackmail. “I don’t like what you’ve done here with Amba. This is the kind of thing that will give me a bad name. I’m sure people are whispering about how I am to blame for not teaching you well. We respect women Bhishma. We don’t abduct them from their homes. And if you do abduct them against their will, you have to be able to marry them against your will if the lady chooses”
“I won’t sir. I can’t. I’ve made a promise to never marry. And I intend to keep it” said Bhishma.
With someone as short-tempered as Parshuram, they can only keep the effort at diplomacy going for so long before they jump to their favorite next step.
“Then I challenge you to a duel. Astra or Shastra? Pick one” said Parshuram. If you’re not familiar with the terms, Parshuram was asking if they should fight with projectile weapons or handheld weapons.
“I don’t want to cross swords with you, my master,” said Bhishma
“Anything you say Bhishma,” said Parshuram pulling out his bow and readying his arrows.
Bhishma didn’t want to fight his master. But he had no choice. He pulled out his bow as well and a fierce battle began.
They were very evenly matched. Every arrow that one fired at the other was struck down promptly by the other. This goes to show that a teacher and student really do understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses very well.
This went on for many days with neither man able to even scratch the other. But the part that was not okay was the collateral damage from this fight, which got worse and as they used more and more destructive weapons. First a little fire here, a tree falling over there, but after a while, it was whole mountains getting crumbled and messing with the weather of faraway causing lightning and thunderstorms. On the 23rd day of this fight just as both of them were readying yet another arrow in their bows, someone tried to intervene. It started as a trickle of water flowing between the two men, but soon it grew into a stream.
Bhishma and Parshuram paused long enough to stare at each other. “Is this one of yours?” asked Parshuram
“Not one of my arrows, if that’s what you mean. But the stream is one of mine. My mother, Ganga. I’m going to call timeout” he said, making the universal T gesture well recognized in the world of modern sports today
And the stream was the Ganga. An extension of Ganga at least. She emerged from the water and asked her son. “Bhishma, have you been trying to destroy the world again?”
“No mama, I promise”
“Then what are you doing here with Parshuram? And why did a whole mountain crumble and fall into me as I was flowing peacefully minding my own business?”
“I can’t not fight him, mama. He challenged me”
That put a new light on the situation. Ganga tried talking to Parshuram instead. But he wouldn’t listen to her.
“Sorry, Ganga. I’m not pulling out of this fight. I’m on a mission and I’m going to accomplish it. I don’t really care about collateral damage. Besides I don’t want anyone saying that Parshuram pulled out of this fight because he was afraid to lose”
Ganga knew how resolute Parshuram could be, and decided not to take it further. But she did a really smart thing. She involved me. Yes! Me! I bet you didn’t anticipate that I would be in this story. But I’m Ganga’s brother if you recall earlier episodes. And always willing to help.
I’ll add a word of caution here. Yes, I’m Ganga’s brother and that makes Bhishma my nephew. But on the other side was Parshuram, an avatar of Vishnu. And as I’ve mentioned in several previous episodes I’m Vishnu’s number 1 fan!
I couldn’t play favorites here.
I had to step in. I have knowledge of the future. And I could see cataclysm if I didn’t intervene right now.
As I stepped onto the battlefield, Parshuram said to me gruffly. “Go away Narada. Go play with your Veena somewhere. The big boys are doing something important here”
“Parshuram,” we need to chat. “You’re doing the wrong thing here”
I knew exactly what would work with Parshuram and what wouldn’t. The collateral damage argument Ganga had tried was not going to work. I knew I had to appeal to his broader mission and his love for data. “Think Parshuram. Your time could be much better spent wiping out other criminals. If I look at your stats right now, you’ve gone 23 days without any success. Think what that will do to your strike rate”.
Parshuram was listening now. “But I don’t want to pull out of this fight. I want to destroy Bhishma. If I pull out, people will say I was afraid to lose”
“No one will say that,” I said. “I see the future, I’m not just saying it, I know. And I’m not asking you to give up at all. I’m just asking you to pause this while there are more urgent matters to deal with. Bhishma can wait, as long as you need him to. The Prince of Magadh stole from the royal treasury to have an ice cream party for his friends. I think you need to go have a talk with him”
This was the out he had wanted. Parshuram was not keen on continuing the fight either, but I gave him the graceful exit he wanted. And the idea had not come from him, it had come from an external source. Me.
“Ahoy, up there,” I said talking to the Devs in heaven. “Let’s put this down in the records as a tied result”
I then spoke to Bhishma and Parshuram. “This was on Bhishma’s home ground. The winner will be decided in the next round, the away leg for you Bhishma will be on Parshuram’s grounds. Since it’s the final round if that’s a draw as well, we’ll use the extra time, penalties, and sudden death if needed. I’ll referee. Date and Time of the match are of your choice Bhishma.”
So that’s where they left it. Amba was devastated of course. She had expected for Parshuram to have wiped the floor with Bhishma. But instead, Parshuram said “Sorry dear lady, I tried for over 3 weeks. Now more urgent matters are calling me over to Magadh. Why don’t you make peace with Bhishma instead?”
But that’s one thing Amba could not do. “Thank you Parshuram. I’ll deal with him myself, even if I have to come back from the dead to do it”
She decided to seek her objective through prayer. She went to the Yamuna and stood still and prayed for six months straight! Surviving only on air. She then stood on her toes for the next six months, but this time she had something to sustain her. A single fallen leaf.
She did the same at other holy places. Including at the Ganga. Ganga wasn’t very pleased with Amba’s prayers, since the objectives of said prayers were to destroy her son. She cursed Amba, that she would become a crooked river that would be infested with crocodiles and that would be dry most of the year.
To which, Amba’s first reaction was “Oh no, how will the crocodiles survive when I’m dry?”
And that did happen. There is a river called the Amba. But part of Amba continued to live on as a human. And continued her prayers.
Until finally one day Shiva the destroyer appeared before her. Which was exactly what she wanted since her objective was to destroy Bhishma.
Shiva granted her wish. She would be re-incarnated for the express purpose of destroying Bhishma. She was also allowed to retain her memories of her life as Amba.
And having secured a path to Bhishma’s destruction, Amba decided to hurry the process along by ending her life. Turns out, she need not have hurried. She had to wait a while before she could be born again as a child of the King Drupad of Panchala.
We’ll meet her again, but a little later in the Mahabharat.
That’s all for now
Next Time
In the next episode, we’re doing another Ramayan story. This one by special listener request is about Ram and Laxman’s sister!