एवम् उक्त्वा ततो राजन् काशिकन्यां न्यवर्तत ॥
माता मम महाभागा स्मयमानेव भामिनी ॥
कदा चिद् अष्टमे मासि कदा चिद् दशमे तथा ॥
न प्राश्नीतोदकम् अपि पुनः सा वरवर्णिनी ॥
सा वत्सभूमिं कौरव्य तीर्थलोभात् ततस् ततः ॥
पतिता परिधावन्ती पुनः काशिपतेः सुता ॥
सा नदी वत्सभूम्यां तु प्रथिताम्बेति भारत ॥
वार्षिकी ग्राहबहुला दुस्तीर्था कुटिला तथा ॥
सा कन्या तपसा तेन भागार्धेन व्यजायत ॥
नदी च राजन् वत्सेषु कन्या चैवाभवत् तदा ॥
evam uktvā tato rājan kāśikanyāṃ nyavartata ||
mātā mama mahābhāgā smayamāneva bhāminī ||
kadā cid aṣṭame māsi kadā cid daśame tathā ||
na prāśnītodakam api punaḥ sā varavarṇinī ||
sā vatsabhūmiṃ kauravya tīrthalobhāt tatas tataḥ ||
patitā paridhāvantī punaḥ kāśipateḥ sutā ||
sā nadī vatsabhūmyāṃ tu prathitāmbeti bhārata ||
vārṣikī grāhabahulā dustīrthā kuṭilā tathā ||
sā kanyā tapasā tena bhāgārdhena vyajāyata ||
nadī ca rājan vatseṣu kanyā caivābhavat tadā ||
"Having spoken thus, O king, my highly blessed mother, as though smiling, sought to dissuade the daughter of Kāśi. At times, in the eighth month, at times in the tenth, the lovely woman again would take not even water. Then the daughter of the king of Kāśi, driven by her craving for tīrthas, ran back and forth across the land of the Vatsas and fell from exhaustion. In the land of the Vatsas she became a river known as Ambā, O Bhārata: seasonal, full of crocodiles, hard to ford, and winding. Thus, from half the fruit of her asceticism, that maiden was born as a river among the Vatsas, O king, and at the same time remained a maiden."
9f9dc5a8c799 · published Jul 17, 2026, 6:42:04 AM UTC
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After the duel is halted, Ambā does not accept defeat as the end. Rāma acknowledges the limit of his own strength, while she turns her pain into a fierce asceticism aimed at Bhīṣma's destruction. The chapter reveals the dangerous side of resolve: a vow can elevate, but when fed by anger alone, it warps the path it follows. Gaṅgā's words are especially telling: Ambā's desire is not dismissed as empty, but she is shown the heavy form its fruit will take. Ambā's austerity becomes a power capable of carrying over into another birth, yet at the same time it makes her like a difficult, dangerous, winding river.