The reincarnation of Amba

Shikhandi’s story begins with the princess Amba, who is wronged by Bhishma and, unable to gain redress, performs fierce austerities and immolates herself, vowing to be reborn as his slayer. She is reborn as a child of King Drupada — Shikhandi — born female and raised, by divine arrangement, to become male, taking up arms as a warrior.

The fall of Bhishma

Bhishma, who knows Shikhandi’s origin as one born a woman, has vowed never to fight such a one. In the Bhishma Parva, the Pandavas place Shikhandi at the front of Arjuna’s chariot; Bhishma lowers his bow rather than strike, and Arjuna’s arrows bring the grandsire down — fulfilling the destiny set in Amba’s vow.

The night raid

Shikhandi fights on through the war as a valiant Pandava warrior, until he is among those slain by Ashwatthama in the night raid of the Sauptika Parva.

Shikhandi embodies the long reach of karma and the certainty of destiny — a soul whose very being is shaped to fulfil a vow carried unbroken from one life into the next.

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Role in the Mahabharata

Shikhandi was born to King Drupada as the reincarnation of Amba, a princess who had vowed across lifetimes to bring about the death of Bhishma. Because Bhishma would not raise a weapon against one he regarded as born a woman, Arjuna was able to fight from behind Shikhandi and strike down the otherwise invincible grandsire — the turning point of the war’s tenth day.

The story of Shikhandi

Shikhandi was a child of King Drupada of Panchala, and one of the most remarkable figures of the Mahabharata — for Shikhandi was the reincarnation of Amba. In an earlier life Amba had been carried off by Bhishma and, her life ruined, had vowed through fierce austerities to become the cause of his death. Reborn in Drupada’s palace, Shikhandi was raised as a daughter (Shikhandini) and later became a man — carrying into this life the destiny to bring about Bhishma’s fall.

The fall of Bhishma

That destiny was fulfilled on the tenth day of the war. The grandsire Bhishma, all but invincible, had vowed never to raise his weapons against a woman or one who had been born a woman. Knowing this, Arjuna took his place in the chariot behind Shikhandi. Bhishma, recognising Shikhandi’s origin, lowered his bow — and Arjuna’s arrows struck him down, laying him upon his famous bed of arrows. So Shikhandi became the instrument of the unconquerable Bhishma’s defeat, and the long karmic vow of Amba was at last fulfilled.