Ambika

Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)

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Bhishma abducting princesses Amba, Ambika and Ambalika from the assemblage of suitors at their swayamvara

Ambika (अंबिका) was the daughter of Kashya, the King of Kashi, and wife of Vichitravirya, the King of Hastinapur.

Legend

Amba, Ambika and Ambalika were daughters of Kashya, the King of Kashi. They were taken by force by Bhishma from their Swayamvara, the latter having challenged and defeated the assembled royalty. He presented them to Satyavati for marriage to Vichitravirya. Ambalika and her sister spent seven years in their husband's company. Vichitravirya was affected with phthisis, (tuberculosis) and died from the disease.

After Vichitravirya's death, his mother Satyavati sent for her first born, Rishi Veda Vyasa. She asked him to father children on the widowed queens of Vichitravirya according to the prevalent custom of Niyoga. Veda Vyasa had come from years of intense meditation and as a result, he looked tremendously unkempt. When he approached Ambika, she closed her eyes in fear. As a result the blind Dhritrashtra was born. When he approached Ambalika, she turned pale in fear. Her son Pandu, the result of the niyoga, was born with a pale appearance.

After the death of Pandu, Ambalika accompanied her mother-in-law Satyavati and sister Ambika to the forest and spent the rest of her days in spiritual retreat.