Shikhandi

Shikhandi now in the prime of his youth, learnt the art of warfare from Dronacharya and in due course became great warrior. His sister Draupadi married the five Pandavas. Together with his brother Drishtdyumna, Shikhandi was a source of constant encouragement to the Pandavas against the injustices to them and the humiliation of Draupadi at the hands of the Kauravas.

In the Mahabharata war Shikhandi became one of the seven commanders of the Pandava army. For nine days the battle raged furiously without any side gaining the upper hand. Bhishma was fighting on the Kaurava side but was known to be partial to the Pandavas. After battle on the ninth day he proclaimed that next day either he would kill one of the Pandavas or die fighting. This was the cue for Yudhishthir to ask him how his death could be brought about. Bhishma replied that he would not fight against a woman. When Yudhishthir said that there were no women in the battlefield, Bhishma told him to take Krishna’s advice.

Next day Krishna asked Shikhandi to confront Bhishma on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Bhishma saw Amba in Shikhandi and stopped fighting. But even then Shikhandi was unable to pierce Bhishma’s armour. Krishna then asked Shikhandi to mount Arjun’s chariot and asked Arjun to attack Bhishma standing behind Shikhandi. Bhishma still refused to challenge the duo and he fell to Arjun’s volley of arrows. This is how Amba as Shikhandi fulfilled her mission of causing Bhishma’s death.

After the war, when the victorious Pandava army was sleeping in their tents, Ashwatthama, a surviving Kaurava commander, beheaded Shikhandi,Drishtadyumna along with Draupadi’s sons.

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