Shikhandi

In the Mahabharata, the later of the
two great Hindu epics, the rebirth of
the maiden Amba, daughter of the
king of Kashi. Amba and her sisters
have been kidnapped by Bhishma to
be married to his nephew
Vichitravirya, but when she informs
Bhishma that her heart already
belongs to King Salva, Bhishma gallantly releases her. Yet Salva refuses to
marry her, for since she has been kidnapped he is not certain of her virginity. Amba then returns to Bhishma,
who refuses to marry her because of
his vow to remain a lifelong bachelor.
In her anger Amba swears to get
revenge on Bhishma and performs
628
Shesha
harsh physical asceticism (tapas) to
generate the spiritual powers necessary to do this. Her austerities eventually please the god Shiva, who
promises her that she will be rewarded in her next birth. Amba then raises
a pyre and burns herself to death.
Amba is reborn as Shikhandi to
King Drupada, whose wife has
received a boon that she will give birth
to a girl, but that the girl will later be
transformed into a boy. When
Shikhandi is born, it is announced
that the child is a boy and the child is
given the training appropriate for a
prince. It is only upon fixing
a marriage for Shikhandi that the
issue of the child’s gender comes up
and it is finally resolved when
Shikhandi exchanges sexes with a
nature spirit (yaksha) named
Sthunakarna, who becomes a
woman, and Shikhandi a man. The
switch is originally intended to be for
only a short period, but is later
extended until Shikhandi’s death, at
which time Sthunakarna again
becomes male.
During the Mahabharata war
Shikhandi challenges Bhishma in battle but the latter refuses to fight him,
since Shikhandi has been born a
woman. Shikhandi takes advantage of
this gallantry to shoot a barrage of
arrows at Bhishma, as does the warrior
Arjuna, who hides behind Shikhandi
for protection. With this assault,
Bhishma finally decides that the time
has come for him to give up the fight
and die. In the battle that follows after
Bhishma falls, Shikhandi is killed by
Ashvatthama, the son of Drona, who
fights on the side of the Kauravas in
the war. Based on Shikhandi’s role in
shielding Arjuna from harm, in modern Hindi the name Shikhandi is used
to designate a scapegoat, someone
behind whom another person hides
and escapes blame.