We have always seen that Bhishma have been sacrificing since his birth. He renounced his claim to the throne of Hastinapur as per the wish of his stepmother,Satyavati. He took the severe vowe of being a "Bhrahmachari" throughout his life span. But did anyone listen what his heart wanted? No. Nobody
did. Everyone fulfilled their dreams through Bhishma.
Bhishma,as per Satyavati's order went to Kashi to abduct the three beautiful Kashi princesses, Ambika,Ambalika and Amba. Satyavati sent Bhishma to Kashi,so that he could bring brides for his son, Vichitravirya. Over here,Satyavati again takes the favour of the dedicated slave of the throne of Hastinapur,Bhishma for her own vested intrest. Bhishma's advice or preference was never taken. However,Bhishma fought with all the warrior princes and the kings in the "Swyamvar" been organised in Kashi and won the princesses and brought them to Hastinapur. The princesses were ignorant about the fact that their groom wasn't Bhishma, instead, it was his half-brother Vichitravirya. Nobody bent down to fit in unless it was Devi Amba. Devi Amba informed Bhishma that she was deeply in love with Salva and he too loves her dearly. She also told that in the " Swayamvar" she would have chosen Salva as his life partner. Bhishma then understood his mistake and returned her to Salva. But Salva refused to take Amba as his wife,because while taking away the princesses from Kashi,Bhisgma defeated Salva and gained them. This hurt the sentiments of Salva intensely and he refused to take Amba.
Amba then returned to Bhishma and asked him to marry her as he has won her. But Bhishma,refused to do and asked her to go away.
You may find Bhishma over here to be very rude to a woman and to him,the life of Amba never mattered more than his ethical values. You may also find Bhishma to be a rude person as well while speaking to a woman. Bjt whatbif I say that he was deeply in love with Amba? What if I say that he sent back Amba to Salva so that he could watch Amba being happy even after her marriage? What if I say he refused to let her marry to his half-brother because he couldn't bear the sight that his love is none other than his own sister-in-law?
You have always thought Bhishma to be a pious and a hardcore personality. But ever seen and thought about the the other side of the coin?
Now let's come to the latter part. Amba then goes to Parashuram,Bhishma's teacher in order to defeat Bhishma as she was badly insulted by him. Parashuram asked Bhishma for a duel with him and Bhishma agreed. The duel went on for 21days but unfortunately it turned out to be a draw as noone was killed.
did. Everyone fulfilled their dreams through Bhishma.
Bhishma,as per Satyavati's order went to Kashi to abduct the three beautiful Kashi princesses, Ambika,Ambalika and Amba. Satyavati sent Bhishma to Kashi,so that he could bring brides for his son, Vichitravirya. Over here,Satyavati again takes the favour of the dedicated slave of the throne of Hastinapur,Bhishma for her own vested intrest. Bhishma's advice or preference was never taken. However,Bhishma fought with all the warrior princes and the kings in the "Swyamvar" been organised in Kashi and won the princesses and brought them to Hastinapur. The princesses were ignorant about the fact that their groom wasn't Bhishma, instead, it was his half-brother Vichitravirya. Nobody bent down to fit in unless it was Devi Amba. Devi Amba informed Bhishma that she was deeply in love with Salva and he too loves her dearly. She also told that in the " Swayamvar" she would have chosen Salva as his life partner. Bhishma then understood his mistake and returned her to Salva. But Salva refused to take Amba as his wife,because while taking away the princesses from Kashi,Bhisgma defeated Salva and gained them. This hurt the sentiments of Salva intensely and he refused to take Amba.
Amba then returned to Bhishma and asked him to marry her as he has won her. But Bhishma,refused to do and asked her to go away.
You may find Bhishma over here to be very rude to a woman and to him,the life of Amba never mattered more than his ethical values. You may also find Bhishma to be a rude person as well while speaking to a woman. Bjt whatbif I say that he was deeply in love with Amba? What if I say that he sent back Amba to Salva so that he could watch Amba being happy even after her marriage? What if I say he refused to let her marry to his half-brother because he couldn't bear the sight that his love is none other than his own sister-in-law?
You have always thought Bhishma to be a pious and a hardcore personality. But ever seen and thought about the the other side of the coin?
Now let's come to the latter part. Amba then goes to Parashuram,Bhishma's teacher in order to defeat Bhishma as she was badly insulted by him. Parashuram asked Bhishma for a duel with him and Bhishma agreed. The duel went on for 21days but unfortunately it turned out to be a draw as noone was killed.
Parashuram was a Chiranjeevi and Bhishma has the boon of dying at his own will.
Amba then was infuriated and did hard meditation for Lord Shiva as he was the most easily satisfied God in those era. Lord Shiva appeared before her and then she asked for the boon of being the death of Bhishma. Lord Shiva blessed her thsr she will be the reason for hks death and when he will wish to live no longer she will come to him as his death. Amba then lit up her funeral and died by taking the vowe of killing Bhishma in her next birth after 25 years. Lord Shiva alsi blessed her by saying that she will remember all thr events of her previous birth in order to fulfill her objective.
Devi Amba took birth to the Panchala king,Drupad,as the sister of Draupadi. She was named Shikhandini then. Shikhandini was taught all the warefare tricks and her gender was unrevealed. As she grew yp she met Bhishma and then again,Bhishma took a vowe that when she will be present in the battlefield,he will disarm himself. Don't you think that he sacrificed his life due to his severe love for Amba? He knew he was the protector of the Kuru dynasty but still he gave up his life for Devi Amba.
Let's come to Amba now. A person starts hating another when the person had some feelings of affection towards the other and suddenly when the affection is broken due to trust issues,it results in hatred. Devi Amba was equally and secretly in love with Bhishma,otherwise she would never have had taken a birth only for his death.
Bhishma also accepted his death with a smiling face from Shikhandini without any hesitation. He gave up his life for the sake of the happiness of his love.
We speak about Radha Krishna, Arjun Draupadi, Abhimanyu Uttara, but do we ever think about the incomplete love story of Bhishma and Amba? Judge it yourself now. Think about the other side of the coin as well.
Always Fascinated by untold incomplete Love story of Amba and Bhishma... He did love her deeply and was wounded when she self-immolated. He fallen for her not that she was beautiful but she was courageous than any man during that period. He must have confessed his love for Amba on his deathbed to Shikandi and might have told had she been little more persistent she would have broken his vows. Then story of Mahabharata would have different or might have been same. Bhishma and Amba might have been childless and Satyavati forced her first son vedvyas on Ambika and Ambalika to have her grandchildren and great-grandchildren who rule Bharatavarsha
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. It is so sad that nobody knows about such an intense passionate love story. When amba like a wounded tigress dashed into the palace of hastinapur, openly declaring that she would marry bhishma, at that very moment he was drawn to her. It was like a hard fist she had hit on his chest, forcefully ripping open and entering his heart. Because despite being in love, he couldnt allow himself to love her. So he readily accepted her hate and let her destroy him.
ReplyDeleteI had this realization today, and was searching in google to see if someone else had felt the same way. yes, someone surely had.. because it feels so much true.. one who has turely loved in his/her life will surely realize this.
ReplyDeleteEach word u said r so true...I never thought about this angle before but finally I understand the deapth of his love for her.But I have one question?
ReplyDeleteWasn't satyavati frees him from his vow after vichitravarya's death...Then why he didn't marry amba,gave her respect & saved her life...If he wanted he could have still maintained his celibacy even after his marriage with amba (by not sharing any physical relatonship with her).Atleast by that he would have been able to watch his love infront of his eyes & most importantly alive...I am sure amba would not have pressuries him for being physical with her knowing his plight.When it's about love revenge can never give any satisfaction specially when the offender is equally in love with the victim...We can understand it by Shikhandi's(Amba's) codition when she saw him dying...Poor woman didn't even got to know how much that abductor of her loved her in both her two lives.I really wish Krishna grant them another chance in some other birth to complete their unsaid & incomplete love story🙏🙏🙏
Lol....there was no Radha
ReplyDeleteTheir situation was destiny of both Bhishma and Amba due to the curse in their previous birth... It is said that bhishma was prabhasa, one of the ashta vasu representing eternal sky or ether and amba was his wife varaangi, divine form of prithvi. She instigated her husband to steal the divine cow. Ashta vasu and herself were cursed later by sage.. She was cursed to be the source of her eternal husband's death and mukti in next life.. They were meant to be together in all lifetimes... During, the Mahabharata period bhishma was bound by oath and she cannot accept anyone other than him as her husband, so the course of events turned out or was orchastrated by destiny as they seemed in Mahabharat and became the reason for his death and mukti, later to be together again in their original form after the Mahabharata war...
ReplyDeleteIn case of epics, especially Mahabharat and Bhagavad-Gita gita, everything must be read between the lines.. one event is interconnected with others.... and most of of them are not openly stated, but hinted in a different manner.... don't know if its true, but mentioned clearly like this in Mahabharata Tatparya Nirnaya, a fine and detailed interpretation of vedavyas Mahabharata and combining knowledge from other hindu scriptures by Saint Madhacacharya of Dwaita school of Philosophy. In Mahabharata Tatparya Nirnaya instead of viewing Mahabharata as a story work, Madhvacharya clearly gives it the status of Nirnayaka grantha and explains some finer aspects of the Mahabharata by supplementing it from other classical works such as Harivamsa, Ramayana, Vishnu Purana, Bhagavatha and others scriptures...