Amba, from the beginning, wanted to marry the king of Salwa. She
requested Bhishma to send her to that prince. He accordingly agreed and sent her away. But
the Salwa king refused to marry her as she had been taken away after victory in a battle.
Amba came back to Bhishma and entreated him to marry her. An avowed celebrate, he did
not wish to depart from that state of life.
Amba knew that Bhishma highly respected Parashurama and would not say 'no' to the
latter's words. So she went to him and narrated her story. Parashurama thereupon
accompanied her to see Bhishma and said: 'Bhishma, marry this girl.'
'I cannot do so. If I do, it would be breaking my vow.'
Parashurama and Bhishma thereupon engaged themselves in a battle and the fighting went
on for many days. Both were valiant and could not be vanquished. Ultimately, they stopped
fighting and returned to their places. Amba, a dejected damsel, threw herself into fire
and died. Later she was reborn as Shikhandi and took revenge on Bhishma.
