And the Yakshas was moved with pity: and gave her his manhood and his mighty form, till she should fulfil her object. So she went forth a warrior, in the form of Sthuna, the Yakshas.
And the King of Wealth, coming that way, found Sthuna the woman sitting alone in the palace: and between laughter and disgust—“You shall remain a woman,” he said. But later he was sorry, and he added—“Till Shikhandi’s death.”
So was fulfilled the promise of Shiva—“She shall be first a daughter: and then a son, Shikhandi, Maiden-Knight.”
And the mother of Shikhandi was full of a great gladness, that she had believed the word of the gods.
The Way of Friendship
Simple is the way of friendship.
Make a fire of two sticks, or twenty, or two hundred—any number will do: and if you walk round the fire sunwise, with that one whom you would have for a friend, the gods themselves will not take back the gift.
And this was the lesson which Drona tried to teach King Drupada. Drona was the Master-Archer as we know, and Drupada was King of the Panchalas. Now Drupada was not worthy of friendship, for he did not believe that two sticks would do for the lighting of the Fire of Friendship.
“They must be two hundred,” said Drupada, “and of the most costly wood.”
And Drona was sad: for he was a poor man, and two sticks gathered in a wood were all that he could bring to the lighting.