KARNANANYA

4. AMBA : THE FIERY PRINCESS

Amba , the eldest princess of Kashi was an ideal princess and born queen .She was a curious stubborn soul with gait of lioness. She upheld righteousness , spoke her mind fearlessly and took care of her subjects wholesomely . She was a bold beauty with brains and heart. The pride of Kashi. She never wanted power , jewels or love . The thing she craved most was respect and loyalty .
Even having such a capable princess, king of Kashi wasn't very happy . Blame the patriarch mindset of him & if not it, then the death of his beloved wife during labour of Ambika & Ambalika. He knew he was being unjust but he couldn't help it. And coming to Amba , she was the exact copy of her mother in behaviour and attitude which always reminded the King of his late wife. To avoid remembering her , he avoided Amba. They always had a curt relationship of respect but deep in heart, the King admired his daughters ; Amba for her queenly stance, Ambika for her calculative brain and Ambalika for her beauty. He knew they would be great queens and wives , for which he arranged a grand swayamvar for them. Only if he knew that this swayamvar would be far from what he had thought.

13 years later

AMBA'S POV:
Swayamvar, a ritual , a tradition where a woman chooses her husband according to her wish ; has now turned into powerplay in Aryavrat and the woman a victory trophy. But I became a victim than a trophy. A victim of this patriarch society. A victim of men's greed & vengeance.
13 years back my life was different. I was a honoured princess , a worthy queen not an ascetic. Not that I mind being a ascetic . This life has given me more independence than I had being a princess . But that doesn't change the fact that I was humiliated and insulted because of those so-called powerful men. I hate three of them; my father for his order and lack of competence in protecting me , Shalva for being highly egoistic, patriarch and rejection and Bhishm for abducting , humiliating and rejecting me in name of his dharma. The last one takes the first place in my hatred list.
I hate my father for never being there yet commanding me to choose Shalva as my king . Y? Bcoz Shalva's father was a enemy of Bhishm & enemy's enemy is a friend.
I followed my father's order to marry Shalva because that's what daughters do right , follow their father's order blindly but what that lead to ? Me getting rejected by that good for nothing Prince and that lowlife Vichitravirya. Not that if he would have accepted me , I would have married him. Never. Bhishm, came like a lion , roared and conquered. He was the one who won the swayamvar , so technically he should be the one marrying me but no.... He came like a storm and pushed my life in ruination.
There my destroyer is leaving a life of luxury as a slave and I being independent am living in atrocities. All because of him. I hate him. So so so hate him. And am adamant to teach him a lesson . & the world knows when Amba decides something , none can change it.

In these 13 years , I have never for once let the fire of vengeance subside . That Bhishm, so called dharmi has done the biggest adharm and needs to be punished. I still remember how I reached Bhagwan Parshuram with the help of my Matamaha Hotravahan to seek justice. At first he didn't believe me but then when he heard it from Bhishm , I saw anger and disappointment in his eyes . Anger for ruining my life and disappointment in Bhishm . He decided to fight for me & actually fought with his favourite disciple for 23 days . At the end of 23rd day, when both Bhagwaan Parshuram and Bhishm launched two extremely powerful divyastras ; Mahadev's trident appeared in the nick of time to dissuade the divyastras. He ordered both of them to give up the fight as it's harming the universe & explained me that Bhishm can't be killed due to his boon but I can become the reason of his death when the time comes. Till then he asked me to perform austerities , calm myself and think wisely for a boon . His exact words were

" Amba , what happened with u was unjust but what u are seeking is unrighteous too. Revenge is unrighteous and justice righteous. If u seek justice , I the destroyer of the three world , promise to provide it to u. But the path for justice isn't easy . U would have to perform austerities in the name of Goddess Shakti. When she's pleased by u , she will give u a boon . A boon that would not only ensure justice to u but to entire human race . Till then , calm urself and think positive o' dear daughter ."