Shloka 56
Ambā’s Vow of Tapas after Paraśurāma’s Assessment (अम्बाया तपोव्रतनिश्चयः)
निवर्तस्व महीपाल नैतज्जात्वन्यथा भवेत् | हमलोगोंके वधके लिये पुत्र पानेका निश्चित संकल्प लेकर उन्होंने यह कहते हुए घोर तपस्या की थी कि “महादेव! मुझे कन्या नहीं, पुत्र प्राप्त हो। भगवन्! मैं भीष्मसे बदला लेनेके लिये पुत्र चाहता हूँ"। यह सुनकर देवाधिदेव महादेवजीने कहा--“भूपाल! तुम्हें पहले कन्या प्राप्त होगी, फिर वही पुरुष हो जायगी। अब तुम लौटो। मैंने जो कहा है वह कभी मिथ्या नहीं हो सकता'
nivartasva mahīpāla naitaj jātva anyathā bhavet | vadhāya asmākam putra-prāptaye niścita-saṅkalpā sā etad uktvā ghoraṃ tapaś cacāra—“mahādeva! me kanyā na bhavatu, putro me prāpyatām | bhagavan! bhīṣmasya prati badalārthaṃ putram icchāmi” iti | etac chrutvā devādhidevo mahādeva uvāca—“bhūpāla! te pūrvaṃ kanyā prāpsyate, sā eva paścāt pumān bhaviṣyati | idānīṃ nivartasva | mayoktaṃ kadācana mithyā na bhavati” iti
निवर्तस्व महीपाल नैतज्जात्वन्यथा भवेत् । दृढसंकल्पया घोरं तपस्तप्तं मम वधाय वै ॥ “महादेव न मे कन्या पुत्रं देहि” इति ब्रुवती । “भीष्मस्य प्रतिशोधार्थं पुत्रं मे देहि शंकर” ॥ इति श्रुत्वा महादेवो देवदेवोऽब्रवीन्नृपम् । “प्रथमं ते भवेत्कन्या सा चैव पुरुषो भवेत् ॥ निवर्तस्व नृपश्रेष्ठ मम वाक्यं न मिथ्यकृत्” ॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage stresses the inevitability of a divine pronouncement and the moral weight of intense resolve (saṅkalpa) expressed through tapas: when a vow is directed toward vengeance, it still gains power, yet unfolds according to a higher order—here, Shiva’s boon that first a daughter will be born and later become male, and that divine speech does not become false.
Bhishma recounts how a woman, determined to bring about the destruction of Bhishma and his side, performed severe austerities and prayed to Shiva for a son (not a daughter) to accomplish revenge. Shiva grants a conditional boon: she will first have a daughter, and that very child will later become a man—foreshadowing the figure who will be instrumental in Bhishma’s downfall.