Amba (Mahabharata)

Amba (Sanskrit: अम्बा, romanized: Ambā) is a character in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. She is the eldest and most beautiful daughter of Kashya, the King of Kashi, and the sister of Ambika and Ambalika.

Amba, along with her sisters, were abducted by Bhishma during their svayamvara ceremony, as brides to marry Vichitravirya, the King of Hastinapura. Before the wedding ceremony, the princess approaches Bhishma, and informs him of her love for King Salva, upon which she is allowed to go to the latter and urge him to accept her as his wife. To her dismay, Salva rejects her, regarding her to have been customarily accepted by Bhishma as his wife. Despite her efforts, as well as those of Parashurama, Bhishma refuses to marry her. Amba holds Bhishma responsible for her misfortune, undertaking a penance, and is granted a boon by Shiva. She is reborn as Shikhandi, the child of King Drupada, and the sibling of the epic's female protagonist, Draupadi.