Bhisma could not be killed unless he lowered his bow in battle. He would lower a bow only before a woman but no woman was allowed to enter the battlefield. Shikhandi provided the solution to this problem. He was born a woman, raised as a man, and later acquired a penis from a Yaksha. He was taken into battle as Arjuna’s body armor on Krishna’s chariot. Bhisma refused to fight him/her. Arjuna took advantage of this and shot a hundred arrows that pinned the great warlord to the ground. There was no way to kill the old man as he had the gift of choosing the moment of his death.
Battle between Shikhandi and Bhisma
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RR
“refused to find him/her” must be “refused to fight him/her”
Dec 21, 2009 @ 5:58 pm
rajat
no female was allowed to enter the battlefield !
i can see in the picture even horses are masculine.
Dec 22, 2009 @ 8:56 pm
Ashutosh
There are a couple of other things. In her previous live, Shikhandi was a princess called Amba. Bheeshma went to a swayamvar of Kashi and brought three princesses Amba, Ambika and Ambalika for Satyavati’s son Vichitraveerya. Ambika and Ambalika were the mothers of Dhritrashtra and Pandu respectively.
Amba was rejected by Vichitra, her lover Salva and finally even by Bheeshma
She was re-born as Shikhandi the daughter of Drupada, later becoming a man as your story suggests.
Source: The stories I read and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shikhandi
Dec 29, 2009 @ 6:08 pm
pupport
The sketch is really good.Who has done that.
Jan 06, 2010 @ 5:48 pm
Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik
Me…..:-) .,….I write and draw
Jan 07, 2010 @ 7:20 am
pupport
You can add one more feather, as an artist
Jan 08, 2010 @ 7:01 pm
Rashmi
Superb sketch, indeed. Kudos to your multitudinous talent Dr. Devdutt!
Jan 27, 2010 @ 8:51 pm
Prof. Nisar Merchant
Your stories are thought provoking and inspiring. Your multi dimensional talent holds me in genuine awe ! Keep it up. You are doing good work.
Feb 04, 2010 @ 2:55 pm
seenivasan
Sir i m a screenplay writter for short flims, i read ur article which is awesome…i would like to know how transgenders were treated by the society, life style and more mthys about them?
Mar 25, 2010 @ 12:50 am
Milind Ranade
Dear Sir,
I read your article with much interest. Mahabharata is a Mahasagar.
It’s a very good public service you are doing by bringing ancient stories to life with your pictures and interpretations.
I would keep the original story and my interpretation seperate from each other.
Also, if Shikhandi is such a pivotal character in Mahabharata, then why for all Indian Hijada’s , the adi purush is Bhishma, and not Shikhandi.
Are you trying to give some kind of justice to Shikhandi which even Maharshi Vyaas could not?
Mar 31, 2010 @ 4:13 am
Kiran Varanasi
You are also a very good artist :) The drawing is also very close to authentic Indian art. I wish I could draw like that..
Apr 15, 2010 @ 3:04 pm
arun
Bhisma who accepted Shikhandi’s challenge knowing that he would eventually die.
He only hinted Yudhisthira that the time is ripe to kill him,Yudhisthira ask Arjun to make way for Shikhandi to come face-to-face with Bhisma.
Arjun obeys his orders and scatters Kauravas & upon Krishna’s order shots the arrow and grounds bhisma.
Apr 30, 2010 @ 3:15 pm
Rajiv
Well nice sketch .. was looking for a parallel as always… disappointed…
Aug 07, 2010 @ 8:33 am
Deepak
It’s really good!
Mar 14, 2011 @ 9:36 am
Vishesh Jain
Hi,
I have read Jaya, and am a very big fan of your work. However, there’s something about the Bhisma legend which I could not understand. The book mentions that Bhisma was tutored by Parashurama but not why.
My question is why did Parashurama agree to tutor Devrath when he did not train kshatriyas? Also, what was Ganga’s role in Devrath’s upbringing?
Dec 14, 2011 @ 6:52 am
Devdutt
Some answers in this book http://devdutt.com/7-secrets-of-vishnu/
Dec 14, 2011 @ 7:05 am
Vishesh Jain
Hi,
Thanks for letting me know and I will surely go ahead and read the book, but, the curiosity is killing me, and I was hoping you could shed a brief insight on it.
Dec 14, 2011 @ 7:53 am