प्रतिप्रयाते दाशार्णे पार्थिवे हेमवर्मणि ॥
कन्यैवाहं भविष्यामि पुरुषस् त्वं भविष्यसि ॥
भीष्म उवाच
इत्य् उक्त्वा समयं तत्र चक्राते ताव् उभौ नृप ॥
अन्योन्यस्यानभिद्रोहे तौ संक्रामयतां ततः ॥
स्त्रीलिङ्गं धारयाम् आस स्थूणो यक्षो नराधिप ॥
यक्षरूपं च तद् दीप्तं शिखण्डी प्रत्यपद्यत ॥
ततः शिखण्डी पाञ्चाल्यः पुंस्त्वम् आसाद्य पार्थिव ॥
विवेश नगरं हृष्टः पितरं च समासदत् ॥
यथावृत्तं तु तत् सर्वम् आचख्यौ द्रुपदस्य च ॥
द्रुपदस् तस्य तच् छ्रुत्वा हर्षम् आहारयत् परम् ॥
सभार्यस् तच् च सस्मार महेश्वरवचस् तदा ॥
pratiprayāte dāśārṇe pārthive hemavarmaṇi ||
kanyaivāhaṃ bhaviṣyāmi puruṣas tvaṃ bhaviṣyasi ||
bhīṣma uvāca
ity uktvā samayaṃ tatra cakrāte tāv ubhau nṛpa ||
anyonyasyānabhidrohe tau saṃkrāmayatāṃ tataḥ ||
strīliṅgaṃ dhārayām āsa sthūṇo yakṣo narādhipa ||
yakṣarūpaṃ ca tad dīptaṃ śikhaṇḍī pratyapadyata ||
tataḥ śikhaṇḍī pāñcālyaḥ puṃstvam āsādya pārthiva ||
viveśa nagaraṃ hṛṣṭaḥ pitaraṃ ca samāsadat ||
yathāvṛttaṃ tu tat sarvam ācakhyau drupadasya ca ||
drupadas tasya tac chrutvā harṣam āhārayat param ||
sabhāryas tac ca sasmāra maheśvaravacas tadā ||
'"When the Dashārna king Hemavarman departs, I will become a girl again, and you will be a man." Bhishma said: "Having spoken thus, they made a pact there, O king, that they would do no harm to one another, and then exchanged their attributes. The yaksha Sthuna took on the female sex, and Shikhandin obtained the radiant form of a yaksha. After this, Shikhandin of Panchala, having gained a male nature, joyfully entered the city, O king, and came before his father. He told Drupada everything just as it had happened. Drupada, hearing this, felt the greatest joy, and together with his wife recalled then the word of Maheshvara."'
d289aba6d2d6 · published Jul 17, 2026, 6:41:26 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
This chapter completes the story of Shikhandin: Amba's fate takes effective form through a temporary exchange of sex with the yaksha Sthuna. The yaksha's grace saves Drupada from war and makes Shikhandin a man, but the grace itself has a price: Kubera punishes Sthuna for willfully breaking the order of things. Bhishma has heard all this from his spies, and so sees in Shikhandin not an ordinary warrior but the former Amba, born for his death. His refusal to fight one who was a woman becomes not weakness but the continuation of his own vow and the boundary of dharma that he does not cross even in battle.