Ambā: Feminine Vengeance in the <em>Mahābhārata</em>

Abstract

Ambā is a female character who is wronged by Bhīṣma and who, later, takes revenge by her own means as the male character Śikhaṇḍin. The paper contextualizes the position of women, both in ancient India and in Sanskrit Epic literature, and analyzes the myth in its Sanskrit source (MBh. I, 94-100; V, 170-197; VI, 108-119), based on the terminology used for “vengeance” (pratikāra) and “womanhood” (strītva).