King Drupada's wife has gotten a blessing that she will give birth to a girl, but that the girl will later be converted into a boy.
Amba is reincarnated as Shikhandi to King Drupada, whose
wife has received a boon that she will give birth to a girl, but that the girl
will later be transformed into a boy.
When Shikhandi is born, it is revealed that he is a boy, and
he is given the instruction that a prince would get.
The question of the child's gender arises only after
Shikhandi is married, and it is eventually addressed when Shikhandi trades
sexes with a nature spirit (yaksha) called Sthunakarna, who becomes a woman and
Shikhandi a man.
The transition was meant to be temporary, but it was
eventually prolonged until Shikhandi's death, at which point Sthunakarna
reverts to male.
Shikhandi challenges Bhishma to a battle during the
Mahabharata war, but the latter declines to fight him since Shikhandi was born
a woman.
Shikhandi, as well as the warrior Arjuna, who shelters
behind Shikhandi for cover, take advantage of this bravery by shooting a
barrage of arrows at Bhishma.
Bhishma eventually determines that the moment has come for
him to give up the struggle and die as a result of this onslaught.
Shikhandi is slain in the battle that follows Bhishma's
death by Ashvatthama, Drona's son, who fights for the Kauravas in the conflict.
In modern Hindi, the word Shikhandi is used to represent a
scapegoat, someone behind whom another person hides and avoids guilt, based on
Shikhandi's role in protecting Arjuna from damage.
