तस्माद् विधाय नगरे विधानं सचिवैः सह ॥
अर्चयस्व यथाकामं दैवतानि विशां पते ॥
एवं संभाषमाणौ तौ दृष्ट्वा शोकपरायणौ ॥
शिखण्डिनी तदा कन्या व्रीडितेव मनस्विनी ॥
ततः सा चिन्तयाम् आस मत्कृते दुःखिताव् उभौ ॥
इमाव् इति ततश् चक्रे मतिं प्राणविनाशने ॥
एवं सा निश्चयं कृत्वा भृशं शोकपरायणा ॥
जगाम भवनं त्यक्त्वा गहनं निर्जनं वनम् ॥
यक्षेणर्द्धिमता राजन् स्थूणाकर्णेन पालितम् ॥
तद्भयाद् एव च जनो विसर्जयति तद् वनम् ॥
tasmād vidhāya nagare vidhānaṃ sacivaiḥ saha ||
arcayasva yathākāmaṃ daivatāni viśāṃ pate ||
evaṃ saṃbhāṣamāṇau tau dṛṣṭvā śokaparāyaṇau ||
śikhaṇḍinī tadā kanyā vrīḍiteva manasvinī ||
tataḥ sā cintayām āsa matkṛte duḥkhitāv ubhau ||
imāv iti tataś cakre matiṃ prāṇavināśane ||
evaṃ sā niścayaṃ kṛtvā bhṛśaṃ śokaparāyaṇā ||
jagāma bhavanaṃ tyaktvā gahanaṃ nirjanaṃ vanam ||
yakṣeṇarddhimatā rājan sthūṇākarṇena pālitam ||
tadbhayād eva ca jano visarjayati tad vanam ||
'Therefore, having set everything in order in the city together with your counselors, worship the gods as you wish, O lord of men.' Seeing the two of them speaking thus, sunk in grief, the girl Shikhandini, noble of spirit, felt as though overcome with shame. Then she thought, 'Both of them suffer because of me,' and resolved to end her own life. Having made this resolve, deeply sunk in sorrow, she left the palace and went into a dense, uninhabited forest guarded by the mighty yaksha Sthunakarna, O king. Out of fear of him, people gave that forest a wide berth.
0164c01a913c · published Jul 17, 2026, 6:41:26 AM UTC
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This chapter turns Shikhandin's secret from a palace anxiety into a personal feat. The mother reveals the truth to Drupada: the lie arose from the fear of childlessness and rival wives, but it held only because of faith in Shiva's word. Drupada tries to join two levels of action — the human defense of the city and worship of the gods. Shikhandini, for her part, takes her parents' suffering upon herself and goes into the forest, where the possibility of a change of sex arises through a yaksha's grace. Amba's fate here becomes not an abstract curse but a concrete movement of compassion, shame, vow, and superhuman help.