Shloka 15
Ambā’s Vow of Tapas after Paraśurāma’s Assessment (अम्बाया तपोव्रतनिश्चयः)
ततः स राजा द्रुपद: प्रच्छन्नाया नराधिप
tataḥ sa rājā drupadaḥ pracchannāyā narādhipa, narendra! itas param rājā drupadena chāditāyāḥ kanyāyāḥ sarve saṃskārāḥ putrasyaiva samāḥ kāritāḥ. drupadasya rājñyā sarvaprakāraṃ yatnena etad rahasyaṃ gopayituṃ vyavasthā kṛtā. sā tāṃ kanyāṃ putra iti eva sambodhayati sma. nagare sarvatra drupadaṃ vinā anyaḥ kaścid api na jānāti sma yat sā kanyā iti.
Bhishma said: Then King Drupada, O lord of men, had all the rites of passage for that concealed child performed exactly as for a son. Drupada’s queen, exerting herself in every way, arranged that the secret be kept hidden. She addressed the girl only as “son.” Throughout the city, apart from Drupada himself, no one knew that the child was in fact a daughter.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights how royal households may manipulate social identity and ritual status to protect dynastic aims and public order. It raises ethical tension between truthfulness and perceived necessity: secrecy is maintained to secure a future political-religious objective, while the queen’s role shows deliberate management of reputation and lineage through saṃskāra and public speech.
Bhishma narrates that Drupada’s hidden daughter is publicly treated as a son: all rites are performed as for a male child, the queen consistently calls the child 'son,' and the secret is kept from everyone in the city except Drupada.