Shloka 41
भीष्मस्वप्न-स्मृत्युपाख्यानम् | Bhīṣma’s Dream-Linked Recollection of the Paraśurāma Combat
सा कन्या तपसा तेन देहार्थेन व्यजायत । नदी च राजन् वत्सेषु कन्या चैवाभवत् तदा,राजन्! राजकन्या अम्बा उस तपस्याके प्रभावसे आधे शरीरसे तो अम्बा नामकी नदी हो गयी और आधे अंगसे वत्सदेशमें ही एक कन्या होकर प्रकट हुई
sā kanyā tapasā tena dehārthena vyajāyata | nadī ca rājan vatseṣu kanyā caivābhavat tadā ||
হে ৰাজন! সেই তপস্যাৰ প্ৰভাৱত কন্যাটি আশ্চৰ্যভাৱে পৰিবৰ্তিত হ’ল—দেহৰ অর্ধাংশে ‘অম্বা’ নামৰ নদী হ’ল, আৰু অর্ধাংশে বৎসদেশত পুনৰ কন্যাৰূপে প্ৰকাশ পালে।
राम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the Mahābhārata motif that tapas (austerity) possesses transformative potency: intense ascetic effort can alter embodiment and redirect the course of destiny, suggesting that moral and karmic pressures may reappear in new forms until resolved.
Rāma addresses the king and describes a miraculous outcome of austerity: the maiden manifests in two ways—becoming the river Ambā in one aspect, and appearing again as a maiden in the Vatsa region in another.