Pursuit of the Inevitable -A Mahabharata Fiction

History of the Kuru

The story of The Mahabharata starts with King Shantanu, this king of the Kuru dynasty married Goddess Ganga(River Ganges). He had a short-lived marriage with the goddess and has a son, Devavrata (later to be called Bhishma , a great warrior), who becomes the heir apparent. Many years later, when King Shantanu goes hunting, he sees Satyavati , the daughter of the chief of fisherman, and asks her father for her hand. Her father refuses to consent to the marriage unless Shantanu promises to make any future son of Satyavati the king upon his death. To resolve his father's dilemma, Devavrata agrees to relinquish his right to the throne. As the fisherman is not sure about the prince's children honoring the promise, Devavrata also takes a vow of lifelong celibacy to guarantee his father's promise.

Shantanu has two sons by Satyavati, Chitrangada  and Vichitravirya . Upon Shantanu's death, Chitrangada becomes king. He lives a very short uneventful life and dies. Vichitravirya, the younger son, rules . Meanwhile, the King of  Kashi arranges a swayamvar  for his three daughters, neglecting to invite the royal family of Hastinapur. To arrange the marriage of young Vichitravirya, Bhishma attends the swayamvara of the three princesses Amba, Ambika, and Ambalika, uninvited, and proceeds to abduct them. Ambika and Ambalika consent to be married to Vichitravirya.

The oldest princess Amba, however, informs Bhishma that she wishes to marry the king of Shalva whom Bhishma defeated at their swayamvara. Bhishma lets her leave to marry the king of Shalva, but Shalva refuses to marry her, still smarting at his humiliation at the hands of Bhishma. Amba then returns to marry Bhishma but he refuses due to his vow of celibacy. Amba becomes enraged and becomes Bhishma's bitter enemy, holding him responsible for her plight. Later she is reborn to King Drupad of Panchala as Shikhandi  (or Shikhandini) and causes Bhishma's fall, with the help of Arjuna , in the battle of Kurukshetra.

When Vichitravirya dies young without any heirs, Satyavati asks her first son Vyas  to father the chilren of  the widows, under a tradition called Niyog  . The eldest, Ambika, shuts her eyes when she sees him, and so her son Dhritrashtra  is born blind. Ambalika turns pale and bloodless upon seeing him, and thus her son Pandu  is born pale and unhealthy (the term Pandu may also mean 'jaundiced'). Due to the physical challenges of the first two children, Satyavati asks Vyasa to try once again. However, Ambika and Ambalika send their maid instead, to Vyasa's room. Vyasa fathers a third son, Vidura , by the maid . He is born healthy and grows up to be one of the wisest characters in the Mahabharata. He serves as Prime Minister (Mahamantri or Mahatma) to King Pandu and King Dhritarashtra.

When the princes grow up, Dhritarashtra is about to be crowned king by Bhishma when Vidura intervenes and uses his knowledge of politics to assert that a blind person cannot be king. This is because a blind man cannot control and protect his subjects. The throne is then given to Pandu because of Dhritarashtra's blindness. Pandu marries twice, to Kunti  and Madri . Dhritarashtra marries Gandhari , a princess from Gandhara, who blindfolds herself for the rest of her life so that she may feel the pain that her husband feels. Her brother Shakuni  is enraged by this and vows to take revenge on the Kuru family. One day, when Pandu is relaxing in the forest, he hears the sound of a wild animal. He shoots an arrow in the direction of the sound. However, the arrow hits the sage , who was engaged in a sexual act in the guise of a deer. He curses Pandu that if he engages in a sexual act, he will die. Pandu then retires to the forest along with his two wives, and his brother Dhritarashtra rules thereafter, despite his blindness.

Pandu's older queen Kunti, however, had been given a boon by Sage that she could invoke any god using a special mantra. Kunti uses this boon to ask the god of justice, the god of the wind, and the lord of the heavens for sons. She gives birth to three sons,Yudhishthira , Bheem  , and , Arjuna respectively, through these gods. Kunti shares her mantra with the younger queen , who bears the twins Nakula  and Sahdeva  through the Ashwaniya  twins. However, Pandu and Madri indulge in lovemaking, and Pandu dies. Madri commits sati out of remorse. Kunti raises the five brothers, who are from then on usually referred to as the Pandava  brothers.

Dhritarashtra has a hundred sons and a daughter through Gandhari , all born after the birth of Yudhishthira. These are the Kaurva  brothers, the eldest being Duryodhan\ suyodhan and the second Dushasan\ Sushasan . Other Kaurava brothers were and Sukarna. The rivalry and enmity between them and the Pandava brothers, from their youth and into manhood, leads to the war.

Source: Wikipedia

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Well, recently I realized that people ae inclined towards historical fiction. This is the backstory for the people who don't know about Mahabharata.  This will help you. For any doubts you can leave comments in the story.

HAPPY READING!

Glossary

Swayamvar- An event organised by the King, to marry off his daughter. The eligible men from all over the country come to win the heart of the princess.

Vyas-  During her youth, Satyavati was a fisherwoman who used to drive a boat. One day, she helped Parashara to cross the river . He was enchanted by her beauty and wanted an heir from her. Initially, Satyavati did not agree, telling that if others would see them, then her purity would be questioned. Parashara created a secret place in bushes of a nearby island and a blanket of thick fog. She conceived and immediately gave birth to a son. Parashara named him Krishna Dvaipayana, referring to his dark complexion and birthplace. Dvaipayana became an adult and promised his mother that he would come to her when needed. Parashara restored Satyavati's virginity, gifted her an enchanting smell and left with his son. Satyavati kept this incident a secret, not telling even King  Shantanu whom she was married to later.

Niyog - In this practice, a woman (whose husband is either incapable of siring or has died without siring a child) would request and appoint a revered man for helping her bear a child.