स्त्रीभावे परिनिर्विण्णा पुंस्त्वार्थे कृतनिश्चया ॥
भीष्मे प्रतिचिकीर्षामि नास्मि वार्येति वै पुनः ॥
तां देवो दर्शयाम् आस शूलपाणिर् उमापतिः ॥
मध्ये तेषां महर्षीणां स्वेन रूपेण भामिनीम् ॥
छन्द्यमाना वरेणाथ सा वव्रे मत्पराजयम् ॥
वधिष्यसीति तां देवः प्रत्युवाच मनस्विनीम् ॥
ततः सा पुनर् एवाथ कन्या रुद्रम् उवाच ह ॥
उपपद्येत् कथं देव स्त्रियो मम जयो युधि ॥
स्त्रीभावेन च मे गाढं मनः शान्तम् उमापते ॥
प्रतिश्रुतश् च भूतेश त्वया भीष्मपराजयः ॥
यथा स सत्यो भवति तथा कुरु वृषध्वज ॥
यथा हन्यां समागम्य भीष्मं शांतनवं युधि ॥
strībhāve parinirviṇṇā puṃstvārthe kṛtaniścayā ||
bhīṣme praticikīrṣāmi nāsmi vāryeti vai punaḥ ||
tāṃ devo darśayām āsa śūlapāṇir umāpatiḥ ||
madhye teṣāṃ maharṣīṇāṃ svena rūpeṇa bhāminīm ||
chandyamānā vareṇātha sā vavre matparājayam ||
vadhiṣyasīti tāṃ devaḥ pratyuvāca manasvinīm ||
tataḥ sā punar evātha kanyā rudram uvāca ha ||
upapadyet kathaṃ deva striyo mama jayo yudhi ||
strībhāvena ca me gāḍhaṃ manaḥ śāntam umāpate ||
pratiśrutaś ca bhūteśa tvayā bhīṣmaparājayaḥ ||
yathā sa satyo bhavati tathā kuru vṛṣadhvaja ||
yathā hanyāṃ samāgamya bhīṣmaṃ śāṃtanavaṃ yudhi ||
'I am deeply disillusioned with the state of being a woman, and I have firmly resolved to attain the state of a man. I wish to repay Bhishma, and I cannot be stopped.' Then the god who bears the trident, the husband of Uma, showed himself to the beautiful woman in his own form, in the midst of those great sages. When she was offered a boon to choose, she chose my defeat. The god replied to that resolute woman: 'You will slay him.' Then the maiden again said to Rudra: 'How, O god, can victory in battle be mine, since I am a woman? My heart, O husband of Uma, is heavily stilled by the state of being a woman. But you, O lord of beings, have promised the defeat of Bhishma. Make it so, O bull-bannered one, that this becomes true, that I, meeting Bhishma, the son of Shantanu, in battle, may slay him.'
f3ec168610f5 · published Jul 17, 2026, 6:42:05 AM UTC
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Here Ambā's resolve reaches its limit. She rejects a life in which she sees neither a woman's lot nor a man's strength for vengeance, and asks not for consolation but for the power to destroy Bhishma. Shiva grants her not an instant victory but a path through a new birth and a change of body. The chapter thus binds together austerity, karma, and destiny: a powerful intention does not vanish with death but carries onward, taking the form of a future instrument. Ambā's entry into the fire becomes not flight but a terrible vow directed toward her next birth.