character introduction and discussion Opoen

Shantanu

Under such ethos and culture, the kingdom of Kuru king Shantanu prospered around Hastinapur. Business and commerce, peace and prosperity, art and literature flourished all around. People both inside the palace and out side were happy. High standard of education, both secular and spiritual, was maintained through the system of Gurukula (students staying with their teacher in an ashrama during their studentship.) Hard work, honesty, and sincerity made these students better citizens. The teacher -Guru- was well versed in all aspects of arts and science related with politics, statesmanship, warfare and economics. Yoga and meditation were routinely included in the curricula.

Once king Shantanu went for hunting. He reached deep into the forest across a river. After many hours of horse ride and laborious chase the tired king instructed his attendants to carry his horse and other possessions, and himself decided to return to his palace in a ferry boat.

The boatman, fisherman by caste, recognized the king and felt honored to have such a distinguished guest on his boat. Such occasions did not come in his life very often. He decided to make most of it. Therefore, he requested the king to accept his hospitality in his humble hut.

The king agreed. Together they reached the boatman's house for refreshments. The boatman tried to make the king as comfortable as he could by offering the king soft cushioned seat, fruits and milk. He called his daughter to serve the honoured guest. And as the fate had it, the king fell in love with the fisherman's daughter (Satyavati) at first sight! Their eyes met and love was exchanged.

King Shantanu made hasty departure and returned to his palace. But the love bug had made his nights sleepless. The constant thought of beautiful daughter of fisherman made him restless and love-sick.

The king started making secret visits to the fisherman's house. Fisherman did not object, why should he! The love between the king and Satyavati blossomed into the dreams of conjugal bliss. The king wanted to marry her.

Shantanu already had one son, named Bhishma, the most powerful, intelligent, and glorious of all the Kurus. His personality was unique and impressive in many ways. His truthfulness, bravery, and righteousness were beyond reproach. If once he decided anything, he was sure to stick to his word at any cost.

The Great Bhishma

As already said, the king wanted to marry the daughter of fisherman - Satyavati. The father was accordingly informed. Here the fisherman became greedy! He thought, "As the tradition goes, Bhishma is elder and will succeed the throne of Hastinapur. My daughter's son will be younger and hence will be denied the chance to become the king. Moreover, when Bhishma marries, his son will succeed to the throne and not my daughter's son."

Hence, the greedy fisherman told her daughter to marry the king only on the condition that

(1.) Bhishma should never aspire for the throne of Hastinapur, and
(2.) secondly, he should never marry.

The two conditions were too harsh for king Shantanu to accept. This was clearly a great injustice towards his beloved son Bhishma. Therefore, the king did not accept the conditions immediately. He bought some time to give his final decision.

The days passed by. The king could not forget Satyavati, nor could he do injustice to Bhishma. This dilemma told on his health and performance of royal duties. He lost his appetite and took no interest in the affairs of his kingdom. These changes did not remain unknown to the intelligent eyes of Bhishma.

Bhishma decided to go to the root cause of the unhappiness of his father. He soon came to know all about his father's love for Satyavati and his desire to marry her. Bhishma decided to bring cheers in the life of his father. He went to Satyavati and, after introducing himself, requested her (would be step mother) to marry his father.

Satyavati repeated her two conditions to Bhishma now: that

(1.) Bhishma should never aspire for the throne of Hastinapur, and
(2.) secondly, he should never marry.

The firm-minded Bhishma vowed in front of her saying, "O mother, I, upon my word and in presence of this river Ganges, pledge never to marry and never to aspire for the throne of Hastinapur. In addition, till my last breath, I promise that I shall be loyal to the throne of Hastinapur whosoever occupies it." Thus indirectly Bhishma assured the fisher-woman that her son would be accepted as the future king of Hastinapur.

Happy days returned as the king Shantanu married Satyavati. The queen gave birth to two sons named Chitrangad and Vichitravirya.

Personality of Bheeshma

Bhishma had a stature and personality that in those times were fit for kings. He was a true Kshatriya as well as a disciplined ascetic - a rare combination. Like a true Kshatriya, he never unnecessarily exhibited passion and anger. A symbol of truth and duty, the benevolent Bhishma was in all senses a true human.

It is unfortunate that a person as noble as Bhishma saw a life full of loneliness, frustration and grief. But that was how Vashishta's curse was supposed to unfold. Bhishma's human birth was destined to be marked with suffering, and that was how his life transpired right till the last moment; even his death was very painful. But the strong as steel character which he possessed ensured that he never shied away from his duty, and never stopped loving those dear to him..

Satyavati

was the queen of the Kuru king Shantanu of Hastinapur and the great-grandmother of the Pandava and Kaurava princes (principal characters of the Mahabharata, one of the principal texts in Hindu mythology). She is also the mother of the seer Vyasa, author of the epic. Her story appears in the Mahabharata, the Harivamsa and the Devi Bhagavata Purana.

Daughter of the Chedi king Vasu (also known as Uparichara Vasu) and a cursed apsara (celestial nymph)-turned-fish Adrika, Satyavati was brought up as a commoner " the adopted daughter of a fisherman-chieftain (who was also a ferryman) on the banks of the rivers Yamuna. Due to the smell emanating from her body she was known as Matsyagandha ("She who has the smell of fish"), and helped her father in his job as a ferryman.

As a young woman Satyavati met the wandering rishi (sage) Parashara, who fathered her son Vyasa out of wedlock. The sage also gave her a musky fragrance, which earned her names like Yojanagandha ("She whose fragrance is spread for a yojana (8-9 miles)") and Gandhavati ("fragrant one").

Later King Shantanu, captivated by her fragrance and beauty, fell in love with Satyavati and asked her to marry him. She married Santanu on condition that their children inherit the throne, denying the birthright of Santanu's eldest son (and crown prince) Bhishma. Satyavati bore Shantanu two children, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. After Shantanu's death, she and her princely sons ruled the kingdom. Although both her sons died childless, she arranged for her first son Vyasa to father the children of the two widows of Vichitravirya through niyoga. The children (Dhritarashtra and Pandu) became fathers of the Kauravas and Pandavas, respectively. After Pandu's death, Satyavati went to the forest for penance and died there.

While Satyavati's presence of mind, far-sightedness and mastery of realpolitik is praised, her unscrupulous means of achieving her goals and her blind ambition are criticized.

Ganga

Shantanu saw a beautiful woman on the banks of the river Ganges (Ganga) and asked her to marry him. She agreed but with one condition: that Shantanu would not ask any questions about her actions. They married and she later gave birth to a son. But she drowned the child. Shantanu could not ask her the reason, because of his promise, lest she would leave him. One by one, seven sons were born to them , and were drowned by Ganga. When Ganga was about to drown the eighth son, Shantanu, devastated, could not restrain himself and confronted her. Finally, Ganga explained to King Shantanu that she fell in love with him in the courts of Indira (King of the Gods.) The other gods didn't approve so she was sent to earth to marry him. Then she told him that their eight children were Eight Vasus (gods) who were cursed to be born on earth. So she released them from this life by drowning them all. She told him that the eighth Vasu will live a long life and that she will take him to the heavens to train him properly for the King's throne and status. With these words she disappeared while King Shantanu was struck with grief thinking about spending rest of his life without her.

Amba

Amba is the eldest daughter of the king of Kashi, who considers the Kuru prince Bhishma responsible for her misfortune and her sole goal in life becomes his destruction. During her swayamvara (marriage ceremony), Bhishma abducts her with her sisters Ambika and Ambalika, seeking the princesses for his step brother Vichitravirya, the king of Hastinapur. Amba loves another king Salva, and is permitted to go to him. However, Salva rejects her as she is spoiled by her captor's touch. An infuriated Amba blames Bhishma for ruining her life. She seeks help of the sage Parashurama to defeat Bhishma, but he fails. She then turns to asceticism and pleases the god Shiva, who grants her the boon that she will slay Bhishma in her next birth. She kills herself to hasten the fulfillment of the boon. Amba is reborn as Shikhandi and becomes the cause of Bhishma's death.

Dritrashtra

In Mahabharat, Dhritarashtra was the son born to Vichitravirya's first wife Ambika. As Dhritarashtra was left fatherless with the death of Vichitravirya, his grandmother Satyavati arranged her son Vyasa to look after him. Dhritarashtra was born blind but this did not deter him from ruling the Hastinapura Empire for several years. He had received immense support from his wife Gandhari and together became the parents of hundred sons, famously known as the 'Kauravas'.

His birth
After the death of both Chitragandha and Vichitravirya, queen Satyavati was worried about the continuity of the family's lineage. The fact that both her sons had died heirless worried her even more. To resolve this problem, she called upon her first son Vyasa to use his special powers and help her daughter-in-laws to conceive.

Vyasa agreed to his mother's request and came to the palace to bless both Ambika and Ambalika.

When Vyasa came to bless Ambika, she got frightened on seeing him. Scared by his looks, she closed her eyes firmly till he blessed and went away. Considering that she made a mistake of closing her eyes on seeing Vyasa, she gave birth to a blind Dhritarashtra. However, Vyasa blessed him with the strength of ten thousand elephants.

Earlier due to his handicap, Pandu was made the king. But with the death of Pandu, Dhritarashtra ascended the throne. He with aid of stalwarts like Vidhura, Bhishma and others looked after the kingdom well. His wife Gandhari who blind-folded her eyes for her husband's sake too helped him in his state of affairs.

The heir to the throne
After the death of Pandu, Kunti (Pandu's first wife) returned to the kingdom after years of living as hermit in the forests. She came back with their five sons. On her return, Dhritarashtra was advised by the elders to be fair with her and her sons. At the same time, Dhritarashtra was put through a great dilemma as to who would be his successor to the throne after his death.

He wanted his son Duryodhana to become his successor but lawfully it was Yudhisthira- the eldest son of Pandu who would ascend the throne. Against his will, he named Yudhisthira his heir, which left Duryodhana frustrated. As a solution Bhishma suggested the partition of Hastinapur. In order to maintain peace Dhritarashtra gave Yudhisthira half the Kuru kingdom, though the lands were arid, un-prosperous and scantily populated, known as Khandavaprastha. While he kept the better half of the kingdom for himself so that his son may one day rule his half of the kingdom.

The Kurukshetra battle
The Kurukshetra war was a war fought between the Kauravas and Pandavas. The elders of Hastinapura such as Bhishma and Vidhura tried to convince the two sides against the battle. But they did not pay heed to the advices of the elders and went on with the battle for eighteen days.

As Dhritarashtra was blind, Sage Vyas blessed Sanjaya, Dhritarashtra's charioteer with the ability to see the past, present and the future. Thus Sanjaya could narrate important events of to the blind king. Dhritarashtra's sorrow increased day by day as Bhima killed all his sons slowly. He frequently bemoaned his ineffectiveness in preventing Duryodhana from going to war. Sanjaya often consoled the bereaved king and reminded him every time that dharma was on the Pandava side and a war against Krishna and Arjuna could not be humanly won regardless of the strength of the opposing force.

His last days
After the death of all his sons, Dhritarashtra handed over the throne to Yudhisthira. Yudhisthira was crowned king of both Indraprastha and Hastinapura. Yudhisthira once again showed his kindness when he decided that the king of the city of Hastinapura should be Dhristarashtra. He offered the blind king complete respect and reverence as an elder, despite his misdeeds and the evil of his dead sons. After many years as the ruler of Hastinapura, Dhristarashtra along with Ghandhari, Kunti and Vidura left for their final journey into the forest. They died in a forest fire in the Himalayas.