ABSTRACT
Amba was abducted and then rejected by BhI~ma; when she tried to return to her chosen husband, he, too, rejected her. She propitiated Siva and obtained the promise that she would be reborn as a man who would kill Bhlsma, and then she entered the fire and died. Now, King Drupada, whose wife had no sons, asked Siva for a son, but Siva said, 'You will have a male child who is a female.' In time the queen gave birth to a daughter, but they pretended that it was a son and raised the child as a son, whom they called SikhaI).Qin. Only Bhi~ma knew the truth, from his spies and from the sage Narada, who had told him about Siva's promise to Amba in response to her asceticism. When the child reached maturity, 'he' married a princess; but when the princess found out that her husband was a woman, she was humiliated, and her father waged war on King Drupada. When Drupada's daughter, SikhaI).Qini, saw the grief and danger of her parents, she resolved to kill herself, and she went into the deserted forest. There she met a goblin (ya/qa) named SthiiQa who agreed to lend her his male sex for a while. They made this agreement and exchanged sexual organs. When Drupada learned from SikhaI).Qin what had happened, he rejoiced and sent word to the attacking king that the bridegroom was in fact a man. The king sent some fine young women to learn whether SikhaI).Qin was female or male, and they happily reported that he was absolutely male. The father of SikhaI).Qin's bride rebuked his daughter and went home.
