Bhishma sows the seeds of his death

Bhishma swooped down on the swayamvara of the daughters of the king of Kasi and took the three princesses for his half-brother Vichitravirya. The eldest princess, Amba, however pleaded with Bhishma that she was already betrothed in mind to Salva, king of Saubala. Bhishma relented and sent her, with escort, to Salva.

Ecstatic, Amba went to Salva and told him what had happened. ``Marry me, my lord,'' said Amba, ``even Bhishma saw the wrongness of keeping two lovers apart.''

Salva however could not accept the situation. ``Bhishma defeated me in a fair fight ,'' he said, ``he may do what he wants with you and but may not give you to me, who lost the battle. Go back to Bhishma and do as he commands.''

Amba returned to Hastinapura and narrated all to Bhishma. Bhishma asked Vichitravirya to marry the third sister too but the king refused saying that he couldn't marry someone whose heart had already been given to another.

Amba, desperate then, told Bhishma that he and his meddling ways were the cause of all her troubles. ``Marry me,'' she said, ``set things right.'' Bhishma, of course, had taken the vow of Brahmacharya and he insisted on keeping his celibacy.

For six long years, Amba went from warrior to warrior, seeking some one who would fight Bhishma on her behalf. None would come forward. Finally, she meditated in the forest where Subramania, the second son of Siva and Parvati, took pity on her and gave her a garland. ``Whoever wears this garland will kill Bhishma,'' he told her. Again, Amba went around begging each warrior she met to accept the garland. She met with no success there either, such was the fear that Bhishma evoked in the minds of men.

Consumed by her rage at Bhishma, Amba threw the garland onto the gates of Drupada's palace and went into the forest. Siva took pity on her this time and told her that she herself in her next life would kill Bhishma. Unwilling to wait a second longer than necessary, Amba threw herself into a funeral pyre and was born as the daughter of Drupada.

While still a young girl, Drupada's daughter saw the garland lying on the gate and wore it around her neck. At this, Drupada grew fearful of the wrath of Bhishma. He sent his daughter to the forest where she transformed herself into a male and called herself Sikandin.

On the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Sikandin drove the chariot for Arjuna on the day he attacked Bhishma. Since Bhishma knew that Sikhandin was a woman, his chivalrous code did not permit him to aim arrows in Sikhandin's direction. Meanwhile, Arjuna and Sikhandin aimed arrow after arrow directly at Bhishma. Thus did Bhishma, the unconquerable son of Ganga, meet his end.