हते शिखण्डिनि रणे स्वरूपं प्रतिपत्स्यते ॥
स्थूणो यक्षो निरुद्वेगो भवत्व् इति महामनाः ॥
इत्य् उक्त्वा भगवान् देवो यक्षराक्षसपूजितः ॥
प्रययौ सह तैः सर्वैर् निमेषान्तरचारिभिः ॥
स्थूणस् तु शापं संप्राप्य तत्रैव न्यवसत् तदा ॥
समये चागमत् तं वै शिखण्डी स क्षपाचरम् ॥
सो ऽभिगम्याब्रवीद् वाक्यं प्राप्तो ऽस्मि भगवन्न् इति ॥
तम् अब्रवीत् ततः स्थूणः प्रीतो ऽस्मीति पुनः पुनः ॥
आर्जवेनागतं दृष्ट्वा राजपुत्रं शिखण्डिनम् ॥
सर्वम् एव यथावृत्तम् आचचक्षे शिखण्डिने ॥
hate śikhaṇḍini raṇe svarūpaṃ pratipatsyate ||
sthūṇo yakṣo nirudvego bhavatv iti mahāmanāḥ ||
ity uktvā bhagavān devo yakṣarākṣasapūjitaḥ ||
prayayau saha taiḥ sarvair nimeṣāntaracāribhiḥ ||
sthūṇas tu śāpaṃ saṃprāpya tatraiva nyavasat tadā ||
samaye cāgamat taṃ vai śikhaṇḍī sa kṣapācaram ||
so 'bhigamyābravīd vākyaṃ prāpto 'smi bhagavann iti ||
tam abravīt tataḥ sthūṇaḥ prīto 'smīti punaḥ punaḥ ||
ārjavenāgataṃ dṛṣṭvā rājaputraṃ śikhaṇḍinam ||
sarvam eva yathāvṛttam ācacakṣe śikhaṇḍine ||
'When Shikhandin is slain in battle, the yaksha Sthuna shall regain his own form without further distress.' Having said this, the blessed god, honored by yakshas and rakshasas, departed together with all those who move in the space of a single moment. And Sthuna, having received the curse, remained living there. At the appointed time Shikhandin came to that night-wanderer and, approaching, said: 'O lord, I have come.' Then Sthuna said to him again and again, 'I am pleased,' and, seeing that the prince Shikhandin had come honestly, told him everything just as it had happened.
1398223d6618 · published Jul 17, 2026, 6:41:26 AM UTC
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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 favor saves Drupada from war and makes Shikhandin a man, but that favor comes at a price — Kubera punishes Sthuna for the unauthorized breach of order. Bhishma learned all this from his spies, and so sees in Shikhandin not an ordinary warrior but the former Amba, born for his destruction. His refusal to fight one who had been 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.