A woman who stands up for her rights makes a huge sacrifice to pay for taking on the powerful. As yet another Women’s Day draws closer, let us salute all the women who have shown this kind of courage. Let us also applaud the occasional determined woman who cannot be ignored even by patriarchal mythology. One such woman in the epic Mahabharata is Amba.
Amba falls in love and gives her heart to a man she intends to choose as her husband at her swayamvar. She questions the morality of the invincible Bhishma, who abducts her and her two younger sisters at the event. They are to wed his step-brother. Amba refuses. When her chosen man refuses to accept her, she comes back to Bhishma and demands justice.
She rejects his offer to send her back to her father or remain in the Kuru court as a maid. Instead, she sets out to find an ally willing to take on and defeat Bhishma. She finds none. Even the formidable Parashurama is not able to help, but she does not give up. She seeks help from the Gods with severe austerities. She manages to get a never-fading lotus garland from Lord Kartikeya with the assurance that the man who wears it will slay Bhishma.
She finds no takers. Her smouldering anger at the unfair state of her existence, and Bhishma’s fault which caused it, does not allow her to get demoralised. When Lord Mahadeva assures her that she will get her wish but not in this life, she chooses to exit the life. She is reborn a woman again, the daughter of King Drupada. Finding the never-fading garland she transforms into a male and becomes Shikhandi. Finally, she becomes the cause of the defeat of Bhishma at Kurukshetra.
Amba’s sacrifice defies the laws set down by Manu. She refuses the protection of a powerful father, closes the option of being taken care of by a husband.
Her sacrifice is in a different league from that of the submissive queen Gandhari who blindfolds herself in solidarity with her blind husband. Amba’s sacrifice is the willingness to offer herself as the oblation. Her fight against patriarchy resonates with the attitude of a modern woman unwilling to compromise or give in to what is unfair. Such a sacrifice remains inspirational and is never in vain.