SECTION CXCI
"Duryodhana said, 'Tell me, O grandsire, how Sikhandin, O Ganga's son,
having before been born a daughter, afterwards became a man, O foremost
of warriors.'
"Bhishma said, 'O great king, the eldest and beloved queen of king
Drupada was, O monarch, childless (at first). During those years, king
Drupada, O monarch, paid his adoration to the god Sankara for the sake of
offspring, resolving in his mind to compass my destruction and practising
the austerest of penances. And he begged Mahadeva, saying, 'Let a son,
and not a daughter, be born unto me. I desire, O god, a son for revenging
myself upon Bhishma.' Thereupon, that god of gods said unto him, 'Thou
shalt have a child who will be a female and male. Desist, O king, it will
not be otherwise.' Returning then to his capital, he addressed his wife,
saying, 'O great goddess, great hath been the exertion made by me.
Undergoing ascetic austerities, I paid my adorations to Siva, and I was
told by Sambhu that my child becoming a daughter (first) would
subsequently become a male person. And though I solicited him repeatedly,
yet Siva said,--This is Destiny's decree. It will not be otherwise. That
which is destined must take place!' Then that lady of great energy, the
queen of king Drupada, when her season came, observing all the
regulations (about purity), approached Drupada. And in due time the wife
of Prishata conceived, agreeably to Destiny's decree, as I was informed,
O king, by Narada. And that lady, of eyes like lotus-petals, continued to
hold the embryo in her womb. And, O son of Kuru's race, the mighty-armed
king Drupada, from paternal affection, attended to every comfort of that
dear wife of his. And, O Kaurava, the wife of that lord of earth, the
royal Drupada, who was childless, had all her wishes gratified. And in
due time, O monarch, that goddess, the queen of Drupada, gave birth to a
daughter of great beauty. Thereupon, the strong-minded wife of that king,
the childless Drupada, gave out, O monarch, that the child she had
brought forth was a son. And then king Drupada, O ruler of men, caused
all the rites prescribed for a male child to be performed in respect of
that misrepresented daughter, as if she were really a son. And saying
that the child was a son, Drupada's queen kept her counsels very
carefully. And no other man in the city, save Prishata, knew the sex of
that child. Believing these words of that deity of unfading energy, he
too concealed the real sex of his child, saying,--She is a son. And, O
king, Drupada caused all the rites of infancy, prescribed for a son, to
be performed in respect of that child, and he bestowed the name of
Sikhandin on her. I alone, through my spies and from Narada's words, knew
the truth, informed as I previously was of the words of the god and of
the ascetic austerities of Amva!'"
--------------------END OF PARVA 5 : UPA-PARVA 191 ---------------------
