05.189
Duryodhana said:
Grandfather, please tell me how Śikhaṇḍī, who was once the daughter of Ganga and a chaste woman, became a man and excelled in battle.
Bhishma said:
The wife of King Drupada, O great king, was a beloved queen, but she was childless, O lord of the people.
At this very time, King Drupada, indeed, sought to please Lord Shankara for the purpose of obtaining a child, O great king.
He decided to destroy us and undertook severe penance. He obtained a daughter from Mahadeva, saying, "May my son be."
O Lord, I wish for a son, Bhishma, with the intention to act. Thus addressed by the god of gods, they will become both male and female.
Return, O king, this situation will never change. But he went to the city and indeed said this to his wife.
O goddess, I have made a great effort with penance for the sake of having a son. I have been told by Śambhu that after being born as a girl, I will become a man.
Shiva, when repeatedly requested, said, "It is destiny." Indeed, what is meant to happen will happen as it is destined.
Then, at the right time, she, the disciplined and wise wife of King Drupada, entered Drupada.
She conceived at the right time due to the destined cause from Pārṣata, O king, just as Nārada had told me.
Then the lotus-eyed goddess conceived. King Drupada, the descendant of Kuru, lovingly attended to his beloved wife, motivated by his affection for their son.
Then, O king, a daughter of exceptional beauty was born to the sonless King Drupada, the lord of the earth.
The glorious queen of the sonless King Drupada announced, "O king, I have indeed given birth to a son."
Then King Drupada, the lord of men, secretly ensured that all duties of a son were performed as if he were his own son.
The queen of Drupada took great care to protect the mantra, always referring to him as 'son'. Indeed, no one in the city knew her except those from Pārṣata.
The faithful one, indeed, covered that girl with the words of the god of wonderful splendor, saying she was a 'man'.
The king conducted all the birth ceremonies for her as if she were a male, and she was known as Shikhandi.
I alone, however, learned through the spy and the words of Nārada, as well as through the divine words and the penance of Ambā.
