ततस् तत्र महान् आसीद् ब्राह्मणः संशितव्रतः ॥
शैखावत्यस् तपोवृद्धः शास्त्रे चारण्यके गुरुः ॥
आर्तां ताम् आह स मुनिः शैखावत्यो महातपाः ॥
निःश्वसन्तीं सतीं बालां दुःखशोकपरायणाम् ॥
एवं गते किं नु भद्रे शक्यं कर्तुं तपस्विभिः ॥
आश्रमस्थैर् महाभागैस् तपोनित्यैर् महात्मभिः ॥
सा त्व् एनम् अब्रवीद् राजन् क्रियतां मदनुग्रहः ॥
प्रव्राजितुम् इहेच्छामि तपस् तप्स्यामि दुश्चरम् ॥
मयैवैतानि कर्माणि पूर्वदेहेषु मूढया ॥
कृतानि नूनं पापानि तेषाम् एतत् फलं ध्रुवम् ॥
tatas tatra mahān āsīd brāhmaṇaḥ saṃśitavrataḥ ||
śaikhāvatyas tapovṛddhaḥ śāstre cāraṇyake guruḥ ||
ārtāṃ tām āha sa muniḥ śaikhāvatyo mahātapāḥ ||
niḥśvasantīṃ satīṃ bālāṃ duḥkhaśokaparāyaṇām ||
evaṃ gate kiṃ nu bhadre śakyaṃ kartuṃ tapasvibhiḥ ||
āśramasthair mahābhāgais taponityair mahātmabhiḥ ||
sā tv enam abravīd rājan kriyatāṃ madanugrahaḥ ||
pravrājitum ihecchāmi tapas tapsyāmi duścaram ||
mayaivaitāni karmāṇi pūrvadeheṣu mūḍhayā ||
kṛtāni nūnaṃ pāpāni teṣām etat phalaṃ dhruvam ||
There was a great brahmin named Shaikhavatya, strict in his vows, grown great in austerity, a teacher in the shastra and the Aranyakas. This sage Shaikhavatya, a great ascetic, addressed her -- suffering, sighing, virtuous, young, wholly overcome with sorrow and grief: 'When things have come to this, O gracious one, what can the ascetics do, dwelling in the hermitage, noble-minded, ever devoted to tapas?' She said to him, O king: 'Let favor be shown to me. Here I wish to go forth into renunciation; I will undergo severe austerity. Surely it was I myself, in my folly, who in former births committed these sinful deeds; this is their certain fruit.'
91f1c0921916 · published Jul 17, 2026, 6:36:31 AM UTC
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After Shalva's rejection, Amba turns her pain into resolve for the first time. She still wavers over whom to blame -- herself, her father, Shalva, fate, or Bhishma -- but gradually comes to see Bhishma as the central knot of her misfortune. Her turn to austerity is significant: lacking any social support, she seeks strength not in the protection of kin but in tapas. Thus personal humiliation becomes a long path of retribution that will later return on the field of Kurukshetra.