In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya asserting himself to Duryodhana that if Shikhandi comes to the battlefield, he will not fight against this person, as Shikhandi is a woman by birth. Bhishmachaarya has a strict policy that he would not fight a war with women and thus, he would stick by it, even though one can argue that Shikhandi has converted herself successfully into a male. As Bhishmachaarya is explaining this, Duryodhana couldn’t understand what exactly happened to Shikhandi and why Bhishmachaarya is so particular about this person. Hence, he requests Bhishmachaarya to render an explanation about who Shikhandi exactly is and why is Bhishmachaarya having apprehensions towards this person.
Now here again, we’re going to witness a detailed accord from Bhishmachaarya about some past happenings, with regards to Amba, Ambika and Ambaalika. As we’ve witnessed this accord earlier, I shall brief it here, for the sake of readers’ recollection and remembrance. Once upon a time, Bhishmachaarya had gone to Kaashi Desha to fight a war with the king there. Upon winning the battle with him, he thought that the daughters of the Kaashi Desha’s king – Amba, Ambika and Ambaalika could be given in marriage to King Vichitraveerya at Hastinapura. King Vichitraveerya was the king, prior to King Dhritarashtra at Hastinapura. As Bhishmachaarya was bringing all the three daughters of the Kaashi Desha king towards Hastinapura, Amba confronted Bhishmachaarya and explained to him that she was already in love with the king of Shaalva Desha and that, she is not ready to marry anyone else other than him. Sensing Amba’s request, Bhishmachaarya decided to let go of Amba and took Ambika and Ambaalika to Hastinapura.
Now, as Amba went to Shaalva Desha, the king of Shaalva Desha realized that there might be a potential danger from Bhishmachaarya in the future because he has won over her father in the battle. Moreover, the King of Shaalva Desha knows the might of Bhishmachaarya and he did not want to take a risk of marrying Amba and getting into problems later on. Hence, when Amba comes to him, he rejects her straightaway! As the King of Shaalva Desha did not want to accept her proposal for marriage, Amba came once again to Bhishmachaarya and requested him to take her back with him. However, now Bhishmachaarya was very stubborn – Once he had let go of Amba, how can he accept her again? Hence, he clearly says to Amba that she has to once again go back to Shaalva Desha. Thus, Amba goes back to Shaalva Desha, only to be rejected once again. Thus, as she was shunted out in between both Bhishmachaarya and the King of Shaalva Desha, Amba got terribly angry with both of them, especially Bhishmachaarya for rejecting her repeatedly. Hence, she decides to take revenge on Bhishmachaarya and kill him in a war. With this anger simmering in Amba, she goes to Bhagawan Parasurama for help. She wants Parasurama to fight against Bhishmachaarya and teach him a lesson.
Accordingly, Bhagawan Parasurama agrees to help Amba and goes to fight with Bhishmachaarya. A fierce battle endures and both of them are equally powerful in warfare techniques. Unable to defeat Parasurama for a long time, Bhishmachaarya decides to employ an extremely powerful and lethal “Asthra”, which would actually end up destroying not only Parasurama, but the entire world! However, as Bhishmachaarya was about to release the “Asthra”, Sage Naarada stops him and scolds him thus, “Oh Bhishmachaarya and Parasurama! Don’t you think both of you are fighting a meaningless battle with each other? Just for the sake of one woman, you’re going to the extent of creating a devastating impact on the entire world! So please stop this meaningless war!”
Thus, as Sage Naarada says, the war between Bhishmachaarya and Parasurama comes to an end. So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 