Shloka 35
Chapter 49: Sañjaya’s Enumeration of the Pāṇḍava Coalition (पाण्डवसैन्यसमागम-वर्णनम्)
पाञ्चालस्य सुता जज्ञे दैवाच्च स पुन: पुमान् स्त्रीपुंसो: पुरुषव्याप्र य: स वेद गुणागुणान्,भरतश्रेष्ठ! पूर्वकालमें काशिराजकी जिस सती-साध्वी कन्या अम्बाने भीष्मजीके वधकी इच्छासे घोर तपस्या की थी, वही मृत्युके पश्चात् पांचालराज द्रुपदकी पुत्री होकर उत्पन्न हुई, परंतु दैववश वह फिर पुरुष हो गयी। वह वीर पांचालकुमार स्त्री और पुरुष दोनों शरीरोंके गुण और अवगुणको जानता है
sañjaya uvāca | pāñcālasya sutā jajñe daivācca sa punaḥ pumān | strīpuṃsoḥ puruṣavyāpta yaḥ sa veda guṇāguṇān ||
Sañjaya berkata: “Dari keturunan Pāñcāla lahirlah seorang puteri; namun oleh putaran takdir, insan yang sama itu kembali menjadi lelaki. Setelah merangkum kedua-duanya—kewanitaan dan kelelakian—pahlawan itu memahami kelebihan dan kekurangan masing-masing. Bait ini mengingatkan sumpah lama Amba—yang menjalani tapa dahsyat demi menghendaki kematian Bhīṣma—serta menerangkan bahawa sesudah mati ia lahir sebagai anak Drupada dan kemudian mengambil rupa lelaki, menjadi alat bagi tekad silam dan akibat moral untuk bergerak menuju kesudahan yang ditentukan.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how past intentions and actions (a vowed resolve) can persist across lives and, through fate, find an appropriate means to bear fruit. It also frames experiential knowledge—having lived both female and male conditions—as a basis for understanding the relative strengths and limitations of embodied roles, underscoring Mahabharata’s theme that destiny and moral causality operate through complex human circumstances.
Sanjaya explains to Dhritarashtra that the person born as Drupada’s daughter later became male by fate. This points to Amba’s earlier austerities aimed at Bhishma’s death and identifies her rebirth as the Panchala heir (commonly known as Shikhandi), whose presence becomes crucial in the chain of events leading toward Bhishma’s fall.