Shantanu married Ganga and had a son called Devavrata who went on to become Bhishma. Shantanu remarried and his second wife was Satyavati. Satyavati and Shantanu had two children and their names were Chitrangada and Vichitraveerya. Note that Bhishma, the half brother of Chitrangada and Vichitraveerya, was significantly older than his brothers. He was about sixteen years old when Shantanu married Satyavati. The name of the kingdom that was ruled by Shantanu was Hastinapura – city of elephants. In the present day, Hastinapura is a town in the Doab region of Uttar Pradesh in India.

 

Chitrangada died at a young age and thus Vichitraveerya was the next in line to rule the kingdom. However, since Vichitraveerya was also quite young, Bhishma ruled in his place. It also became Bhishma's responsibility to find a suitable wife for Vichitraveerya.

 

The king of Kashi had three daughters - Amba, Ambika and Ambalika. And there was a Swayamvara held in the kingdom. Swayamvara is an ancient Kshatriya practice wherein a princess could choose her husband. The potential suitors, usually kings and princes present on the occasion may be asked to perform a brave or daring deed to demonstrate their capabilities.

 

Bhishma went to Kashi for the Swayamvara as a representative of Vichitraveerya. The other kings and princes naturally assumed that Bhishma was there for himself and mistook him to be a potential suitor for the three Kashi princesses. They did not know that he was there on behalf of Vichitraveerya. They thought that Bhishma would break his vow of celibacy and chastity and be a disgrace to the Kshatriya race. They called him names freely.

 

Angered by these words, Bhishma challenged the entire group of kings and princes and fought them single-handed. No one was a match for the great Bhishma, and they were all soon defeated. With no one else in the way, Bhishma took the three sisters in his chariot and drove back to Hastinapura. On his way back, a king called Shalva pursued Bhishma and challenged him. Shalva had his heart set on marrying the eldest sister, Amba. Bhishma defeated Shalva but spared his life at Amba’s request. The defeated Shalva was humiliated and returned to his kingdom.

 

When Bhishma returned to Hastinapura, he arranged the marriage of Vichitraveerya to the three sisters. To this, Amba, the eldest protested. “O Great Warrior! My heart belongs to King Shalva and I cannot accept anyone else as my husband. Please send me back to the one I love.”

 

Bhishma understood Amba’s feelings and sent her back to Shalva with due respect. He then arranged for the wedding of Vichitraveerya with Ambika and Ambalika.

 

It is important to understand the custom of kings during those times. Kings married more than one woman not only for the sake of pleasure but also for the sake of progeny, to ensure that there are enough children so that the worthy one would carry on the responsibility of the throne. In the absence of heir apparents, it would be extremely unsafe for the kingdom, which would constantly face threats of invasion from time to time.

 

Polygamy is as old as mankind. It is a common phenomenon across countries. The law in most countries has forbidden the practice of having multiple wives at the same time. However, sequential polygamy is very much prevalent for the very same reasons that were prevalent thousands of years ago.

 

Bhishma sent Amba back to King Shalva at her request after her sisters were wedded to Vichitraveerya. When she reached Shalva, to Amba’s horror, he did not accept her. He said, “Amba! I was defeated in public by Bhishma and he won you. I cannot accept you as charity from him. Please return to Bhishma and do what he says.”

 

The disgruntled Amba went back to Bhishma and asked him to dispense justice. Bhishma tried to ask Vichitraveerya to accept Amba as his wife, but he refused citing, “I cannot accept someone who has her heart set on another man.”

 

Amba, thus having nowhere to go asked Bhishma himself to marry her. But how could he? He was bound by the sacred vow of chastity he had taken. Bhishma refused to marry her and Amba was stranded.

 

Vichitraveerya wouldn't accept her. Shalva wouldn't accept her. Bhishma wouldn't accept her.

 

Amba held Bhishma responsible for this sad situation she found herself in. She was reduced to a nonentity and she held Bhishma as the sole reason for her suffering. She was bent on revenge on Bhishma. She went from kingdom to kingdom requesting every Kshatriya to fight Bhishma and avenge her, but everyone refused. No one was brave enough to fight the mighty Bhishma.

 

Parashurama, Bhishma’s Guru, took pity on Amba and decided to reason with Bhishma to accept Amba as his wife, but was unsuccessful.

 

Once every mortal king abandoned her, Amba went to the Himalayas and practised rigorous austerities to Lord Shiva. Eventually, Shiva appeared before her and granted her a boon stating, “Amba! You cannot slay Bhishma in this life, but I grant that you will be the one to slay Bhishma in your next birth.”

 

Amba was impatient and wanted her next life to come immediately and therefore, she jumped into a fire and ended her life.

 

Amba was reborn as King Drupada's daughter. When she grew up, she went to the forest and performed rigorous austerities and penances. As a result of these difficult practices, in time, she was transformed into a man and became known as the warrior Shikhandi, who confronts Bhishma at his time of death in the Kurukshetra war.

 

The story that we have seen so far makes a case in point as to how intricate this epic is.

 

Who was Bhishma? He was originally Prabhasa, one of the eight Vasu Devas, born as Devavrata to Goddess Ganga to fulfill Vasishta's curse. Who was Shikhandi? He was Amba, reborn to kill Bhishma.

 

The Law of Karma operates in the most fascinating manner and the epic witnesses such interesting and thought-provoking instances.