निवर्तस्व महीपाल नैतज् जात्व् अन्यथा भवेत् ॥
स तु गत्वा च नगरं भार्याम् इदम् उवाच ह ॥
कृतो यत्नो मया देवि पुत्रार्थे तपसा महान् ॥
कन्या भूत्वा पुमान् भावी इति चोक्तो ऽस्मि शंभुना ॥
पुनः पुनर् याच्यमानो दिष्टम् इत्य् अब्रवीच् छिवः ॥
न तद् अन्यद् धि भविता भवितव्यं हि तत् तथा ॥
ततः सा नियता भूत्वा ऋतुकाले मनस्विनी ॥
पत्नी द्रुपदराजस्य द्रुपदं संविवेश ह ॥
लेभे गर्भं यथाकालं विधिदृष्टेन हेतुना ॥
पार्षतात् सा महीपाल यथा मां नारदो ऽब्रवीत् ॥
nivartasva mahīpāla naitaj jātv anyathā bhavet ||
sa tu gatvā ca nagaraṃ bhāryām idam uvāca ha ||
kṛto yatno mayā devi putrārthe tapasā mahān ||
kanyā bhūtvā pumān bhāvī iti cokto 'smi śaṃbhunā ||
punaḥ punar yācyamāno diṣṭam ity abravīc chivaḥ ||
na tad anyad dhi bhavitā bhavitavyaṃ hi tat tathā ||
tataḥ sā niyatā bhūtvā ṛtukāle manasvinī ||
patnī drupadarājasya drupadaṃ saṃviveśa ha ||
lebhe garbhaṃ yathākālaṃ vidhidṛṣṭena hetunā ||
pārṣatāt sā mahīpāla yathā māṃ nārado 'bravīt ||
'Return, O king; this will never be otherwise.' Then Drupada returned to the city and said to his wife: 'O queen, for the sake of a son I undertook a great effort through austerity. Shambhu told me: "Though born a girl, the child will become a man." When I entreated him again and again, Shiva said: "So it is destined; it will not be otherwise. What must happen will happen exactly so."' After this, the noble wife of King Drupada, self-controlled, having entered the proper time of her cycle, united with Drupada. In due time she conceived by the son of Prishata, according to the prescribed order, as Narada related to me, O king.
ba9837a3e8cc · published Jul 17, 2026, 6:42:05 AM UTC
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This chapter shows how Amba's vow begins to enter history through the house of Drupada. Shiva does not overturn the world's order by an instant miracle, but grants a destiny that unfolds gradually: the child is born a daughter, yet destined to become a man and the instrument of Bhishma's death. Drupada and his wife act out of faith in the god's word, and so they conceal the child's sex and perform the rites due a son. For Bhishma this is not merely a family secret of the Panchalas: he sees in it the continuation of Amba's austerity and the working of a destiny that no human means can turn aside.