Jai Sriman Narayana !!
The great epic Mahabharath was
composed by Maharishi Veda Vyasa/Krishna Dwaipayana, son of Sage Parasara and
Sathyavati, a woman from fisherman clan.
Mahabharath describes the legends of Bharatha Dynasty. It
was written in 18 Parva such as Adhi Parva, Sabha Parva, Vana Parva, Virada
Parva, Udhyoga Parva, Bhishma Parva, Drona Parva, Karna Parva, Shalya Parva,
Soupthika Parva, Stri Parva, Shanthi Parva, Anushasana Parva, Ashwamedha Parva,
Ashramavasika Parva, Musala Parva, Mahaprasthanika Parva and Swargarohana Parva
and each Parva has divided into many Upaparva and has chapters in detail. Adhi
Parva depicts the life of King Dushyantha and his wife Shakunthala and their
son Sarvadhamanan, who was famously known as Bharatha, a righteous ruler of
Bharatha Empire.
Lord Brahma created deities,
Sages and Prajapathis. It was the
beginning of the growth of human race from the sixty daughters of Daksha Prajapathi. Pururavass,
Yayathi, Puru, Dushyantha, Bharatha, Shanthanu were born in the family
of Dithi, one of the daughters of Daksha Prajapathi. King Shanthanu was the ruler of Hasthinapur
from Kuru Dynasty.
Life of King Shanthanu :
King Shanthanu met a gorgeous
woman while walking through the banks of river Ganga. It was Goddess Ganga came down to earth to
become the mother of Ashta Vasus at their request. Ashta Vasus were cursed to be born on Earth
by Sage Vashishta for their unfaithful act.
Ashta Vasus and their wives were on their expedition through the dense
forest found the hermitage of Sage Vashishta and the divine cow
Surabhi/Kamadhenu which has the capabilities to fulfill the desires of its care
taker. The wives of Ashta Vasus were
tempted to have the possession of the divine cow, especially the wife of Dhyo
dearly wished to have Kamadhenu under her detention. Eventually,
Ashta Vausus executed a deceitful plan and took the custodian of the
divine cow without the knowledge of Sage
Vashishta. The most infuriated Sage
cursed the Ashta Vasus to born on Earth.
Ashta Vasusus sincerely prayed to Sage and begged for forgiveness, they
were ultimately suggested to take birth on the Earth for a short period and the
eighth Vasu Dhyo would remain on the Earth and take several years to get rid of
the curse. Ashta Vasus approached
Goddess Ganga with an appeal to become their mother while they take birth on
Earth and was agreed.
There was another incident behind
the gathering of King Shanthanu and Goddess Ganga on Earth. In the previous birth King Shanthanu was King
Mahabhishak from Ikshvaku Dynasty. King
Mahabhishak was a righteous ruler; he performed 10,000 Ashwamedha Yaga and
pleased Lord Indra. Once King
Mahabhishak with the deities and Rishis went to Brahma Loka/Sathya Loka, there
he met graceful Ganga whose clothes were displaced due to the sudden rush of
the wind. King Mahabhishak’s eyes were
fallen on the striking features of Ganga and desired for her. This incident annoyed Lord Brahma and cursed
him to be born on Earth to accomplish his desires.
King Shanthanu completely fallen
in love with striking Ganga and requested her to marry him. But Goddess Ganga put forward a condition
that King Shanthanu should never question her for any of her deeds and King
Shanthanu readily accepted the same.
Finally, King Shanthanu married Goddess Ganga and lived a blissful
married life. She loved her husband
dearly, but after every birth of the child she would immerse them into the
water, she continued this practice for seven times. This painful incident tortured him like a
hell, often the promise between them made him keep quiet. He was madly in love with her, does not want
to lose his dearest wife at any cost. At
the time of throwing the Eighth child into the river, King Shanthanu refused to
keep calm and pleaded her to refrain from the agonizing act and revealed his
desire to have an heir to the throne. Goddess
Ganga reminded the promise between them and left King Shanthanu with a vow that
she would bring back the Eighth child (Ashta Vasu Dhyo) after completion of his
studies in Astra and Sastra. King
Shanthanu was distraught at the separation of Goddess Ganga and his child. As stated earlier, Goddess Ganga returned
their son Devavratha/Gangadhath to King Shanthanu after the completion of the
studies of Astra & Sastra from Devaguru Bruhaspathi .
King Shanthanu after the
separation from Goddess Ganga lived an extremely solitude life; he was completely
occupied with the affairs of his Kingdom Hasthinapur and hunting
expedition. During this period of time, King Shanthanu happened
to meet gorgeous Sathyavati, daughter of a fisher man. She was fabulously riding on a boat, spreading
magnificent fragrances all around. Instantly,
King Shanthanu fallen at the flawless beauty of Sathyavati.
Sathyavati had a boon from Sage
Parasara that although she belongs to the clan of fisherman, she would have the
smell of wonderful fragrances on her.
Once, Sage Parasara, son of Sage Vashishta, met Sathyavati who was
moving marvelously through the river Kalindi.
He had fallen in love with her the moment his eyes were set on her
dazzling beauty. Sage Parasara
approached Sathyavati and exposed his desire, but Sathyavati tried to put off
his desire, revealed her powerlessness to have him as she was born in an
inferior class. Sage Parasara prompted
her to have a child without any harm to her virginity and everlasting
fragrances on her body, also advised her that child born would be well-known
for the welfare of the Universe. The
child born to Sage Parasara and Sathyavati was Maharishi Veda Vyasa who segregated
Vedas into four divisions such as Rig, Yajur, Sama & Atharva, composed 18 Puranas & Upa Puranas, Sastras & Upanishads to bring righteousness
and protect the Universe. Maharishi Veda
Vyasa left for severe penance immediately after his birth with the blessing of
Sage Parasara and Sathyavati.
It was after the above incident
King Shanthanu met Sathyavati who was leading a normal life as a daughter of
the fisher man. King Shanthanu requested
her to marry him, Sathyavati chivalrously replied to get permission from his
father. King Shanthanu met Sathyavati’s
father, chief of the fishermen clan and revealed his desire to marry his
daughter. Sthyavati’s father was a man of
self respect and intellect, as usual worried about the wellbeing of his
daughter, expressed his fears that the child born to Sathyavati would never had
a respectable position in the Kingdom, moreover King Shanthanu had already a
son Devavratha, who is the actual heir to the throne. He revealed his opinion that he would be
agreeable for the marriage of his daughter Sathyavati with King Shanthanu only
if Sathyavati’s son would get the title of heir to the throne of Hasthinapur. After listening to Sathyavati’s father, King
Shanthanu flatly refused the very idea and returned to palace.
King Shanthanu gloomily returned
to his palace, he failed to soothe his mind from the thoughts of
Sathyavati. He remained distressed
without any interest in the affairs of the Kingdom or hunting expedition. Devavratha was deeply worried about the state
of his father and found the reason for the anguish of his father. Devavratha left the palace immediately with a
promise that whatever may happen, he would fulfill desires of his father, he approached
the father of Sathyavati and informed his verdict. Devavratha promised to refrain from the title
of heir to the throne and Sathyavati’s son would be the heir to the throne of
Hasthinapur. Sathyavathi’s father was
not satisfied at the verdict of Devavratha, he raised doubts about the child to
be born to Devavratha. Ultimately,
Devavratha promised to remain single in all his life, deities and Sages
showered flower on the magnanimous attitude of Devavratha, adorned him with the
title ‘Bhishma’. King Shanthanu was
extremely pleased and blessed his son with ‘Swacchandha Mruthyu’,/ death
happens only at his wish.
Jai Sriman Narayana !!
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