Ganga Putra Bheeshma

AFTER THE VOW

Years later, in the process of finding a bride for his half-brother, the young king Vichitravirya, Bheeshma abducted princesses Amba, Ambika and Ambalika of Kashi (Varanasi) from the assemblage of suitors at their swayamvara. Salwa, the ruler of Saubala, and Amba (the eldest princess) were in love; Salwa attempted to stop the abduction but was soundly beaten. Upon reaching Hastinapur, Amba confided in Bhishma that she wished to wed Salwa. Bheeshma then sent her back to Salwa, who, bitter from his humiliating defeat at Bheeshma's hands, turned her down. Disgraced, Amba approached Bheeshma for marriage. He refused her, citing his oath. Enraged beyond measure, Amba vowed to avenge herself against Bheeshma even if it meant being reborn over and over again.

Amba sought refuge with Parasurama, who ordered Bheeshma to marry Amba, telling Bheeshma it was his duty. Bhishma politely refused saying that he was ready to give up his life at the command of his teacher but not the promise that he had made. Upon the refusal, Parasurama called him for a fight at Kurukshetra. At the battlegrounds, while Bhishma was on a chariot, Parasurama was on foot. Bheeshma requested Parasurama to also take a chariot and armor so that Bheeshma would not have an unfair advantage. Parasurama blessed Bheeshma with the power of divine vision and asked him to look again. When Bheeshma looked at his guru with the divine eyesight, he saw the Earth as Parasurama's chariot, the four Vedas as the horses, the Upanishads as the reins, Vayu(wind) as the Charioteer and the Vedic goddesses Gayatri, Savitri, and Saraswati as his armor. Bheeshma got down from the chariot and sought the blessings of Parashurama to protect his dharma, along with permission to battle against his teacher. Pleased, Parashurama blessed him and advised him to protect his vow as Parasurama himself had to fight to uphold his word as given to Amba. They fought for 23 days without conclusion, each too powerful to defeat the other.

In one version of the epic, on the 23rd day of battle, Bheeshma attempted to use the Prashwapastra against Parashurama. Learned in his previous birth as Prabhasa (one of Ashta Vasus), this weapon was not known to Parasurama and would put the afflicted to sleep in the battlefield. This would have given Bheeshma the victory. Before he could release it, however, a voice from the sky warned him that "if he uses this weapon it would be a great insult towards his Guru."Pitrs then appeared and obstructed the chariot of Parashurama, forbidding him from fighting any longer. At the behest of the divine sage Narada and the gods, Parashurama ended the conflict and the battle was declared a draw by Gods.

Parashurama narrated the events to Amba and told her to seek Bheeshma's protection. However, Amba refused to listen to Parashurama's advice and left angrily declaring that she would achieve her objective by asceticism. Her predicament unchanged, did severe penance to please Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva assured her that she would be born as a man named (Shikhandi) in her next birth (and still she would recall her past) and could be instrumental in Bheeshma's death, thus satisfying her vow.