Story of Satyavati

DEVASUNDER SJ

CB.EN.U4CSE20314

Mahabaratha consists of many fascinating and amazing stories.Birth of Satyavati is also a facinating
story.Satyvati is also called as Matsyagandha.When she was a girl,she smelled most dreadfully of
fish.This was the reason she was called as Matsyagandha.One day,Satyavati caught the attention of a
passing sage,who was so infatuated with her that he engulfed her ferry boat in a cloud of mist and
convinced her to make out with him.That coupling produced a powerful son who lived outside of
society,despite the fact the he was wild and terriable to look at as a child.This sage was Veda Vyasa.

Matsyagandha’s experience with the sage,who shared a bed with her,also helped her get rid of her fishy
odour.She became Satyavati after King Shantanu fell in love with her new alluring aroma and wed her.In
addition,her father made a deal with her husband under which Satyavati’s sons would control the realm
following their father’s passing.

Satyavati was one of the important characters in Mahabaratha.She was the wife of the great king
Shantanu of Hastinapura.Shatanu and Satyavati had two sons- Chitragandha and Vichitraveerya.Before
the marriage with king Shantanu.Satyavati had premartial relation with Rishi Parashar.This gave birth to
the great sage Krishna Dvaipayana Veda Vyasa.King Shantanu’s second wife was Satyavati.Shantanu’s
first wife was Ganga.Ganga was the one who drowned seven children and atlast came Devarat.When
king shantanu approach Satyavati to marry her,Satyavati’s father told that he will allow this marraige
only if the following codniton is agreed.The conditon was that Satyavati’s sons would take take throne
after king Shantanu.At first Shantanu was very skeptical about it and was much worried about
Devarat.Bheeshma convinced his father by taking the terrible vow.The vow was that Devarat would
serve for Satyavati’s sons after Shantanu.King Shantanu gave the boon to Devarat of choosing his own
death.

Satyavati’s wish,however,had not yet been fully realised. She gave Shantanu two sons, Chitrangada and
Vichitravirya, who weren't particularly valuable. She then convinced her powerful step-son, Bhishma, to
kidnap women for their marraige. She then realised that her sons were incapable of having children with
the brides who had been given to them due to their weakness and impotence. She originally asked
Bhishma to impregnate his brothers' wives in order to guarantee that she would be the matriarch of a
dynasty. These sexual couplings were permitted under the niyoga tradition (a brother sleeping with his
sister-in-law).

Vichitravirya passed away without any problems after marrying Ambika and Ambalika. Satyavati,
however, had a memory of her own son, who was then known as the sage Vyasa, and she called him to
bed with her daughters-in-law when Bhishma refused to breach his vow of chastity. Finally, he did, and
the young queens gave birth to Satyavati's grandsons, who were descended from her and would carry
on the Kaurava line. Satyavati utilised her first-born son to establish her standing in a family that was
mainly concerned with its male members, far from being ashamed of him.

Pandu and Dhritarashtra were the children that Vyasa gave them both. Satyavati was therefore the
Kauravas' and the Pandavas' biological great-grandmother, albeit via separate sons.
Satyavati and her two daughters-in-law moved to a woodland refuge after Pandu came to the throne,
where they eventually perished. Now that the sons were adults, it was time to occupy Hastinapur's
vacant throne. The oldest, Dhritarashtra, was disregarded because it was against the law for a person
with a disability to be king. Pandu was crowned as the winner. Dhritarashtra and Gandhari's marriage, as
well as Pandu and Kunti and Madri's, were arranged by Bhishma. By capturing neighbouring territories,
Pandu helped the kingdom grow and amassed a considerable amount of war loot. When the country's
finances were full and everything was going well, Pandu instructed his elder brother to handle the
government's business before retiring to the forests with his two wives. But after being cursed (by a
sage), he abandoned the throne and joined his wives Madri and Kunti in the bush. There, through
Niyoga with the gods, his wives gave birth to children for him, the Pandavas, or "sons of Pandu." Madri
also perished in the forest with Pandu as a result of the curse. Along with the Pandavas, Kunti went back
to Hastinapur. Due to her grief over Pandu's passing, Satyavati had no desire to continue living. After
Pandu's burial ceremonies were completed, Vyasa forewarned Satyavati that the dynasty's prosperity
would come to an end and that terrible things would happen in the future (resulting in the extinction of
her clan). Satyavati and her daughters-in-law Ambika and Ambalika headed towards the jungle to
perform penance at Vyasa's instruction. She passed away and entered paradise in the wilderness.

Even though Satyavati's father was a fisherman and was mentioned in every literature as a factor in the
Bhishma promise and indirect cause of Hastinapur's demise, some well-known scholars attribute both
factors to Satyavati rather than her father.