From our childhood, we've all heard and read the Mahabharat, a tale of rivalry and enmity among cousins which resulted in massive destruction. Even now, if you visit the lands of Kurukshetra, the soil is redder than the red soil.
Ameliorate means t...
(Friends, I am not going to write the whole events till Pandu goes to the forest in detail since it's known to everyone. In this chapter, I shall write in brief the events till the birth of Yudhistira...)
Long ago, long before Chattrapati Shivaji started his mission, long before Ashoka the great was born, long before Chanakya became the minister of Chandragupta Maurya, long before the Aryavat as we know it now was formed, there lived a king named Shantanu who ruled Hastinapur.
One day, the king, along with his trusted ministers went out to the banks of river Ganga. There, he saw a beautiful woman, almost more beautiful than nymphs in the court of Indra. She was Goddess Ganga in disguise. The King approached her and requested her to marry him. Ganga agreed on the condition that he wouldn't question any of her deeds and if he did, their marriage would come to an end. Days passed. Ganga gave birth to 8 children whom, after their birth, she would drown in the Ganga River. When the king came to know it he was shocked but decided to not question her as per her condition. But when the eighth child too was drowned, he couldn't handle it anymore and approached the queen asking her the reason and stopping her. Ganga explained the story of the vasus and the reason for his birth on earth. Then she promised to raise his son into a great individual and vanished into thin air, breaking their marriage.
Meanwhile, far away from the palace of Hastinapur, across the river, there lived a fisher a woman named Satyavati who lived with her father and helped him in ferrying the passengers across the river. One day, Rishi Parashara asked Satyavati to ferry her across the Yamuna. As they were crossing the river in her boat, Parashara grew attached to Satyavati, and help prey to the God of desire. Parashara said to Satya that the child born of them will not be any ordinary child but he will change the course of history, in fact, write the course of history. But Satyavati was terrified of him and gave an excuse that there were many people present on both sides of the river. So Parasara, with his mystic power, created a dense sheet of mist around the boat. After that, Parashara gave Satyavati two boons: the first one was that Satyavati would henceforth be emanating the finest fragrance from her person. From that day, Satyavati was also called Matsyagandha. The second one was that she would get her virginity back and no one will ever doubt her integrity. The son born of them was called Krsna Dwaipayana who later came to be known as Rishi Ved Vyas.
Years passed. The eighth child, Devavrata returned to Hastinapur equipped to be the crown prince. Devavrata was now a handsome prince, but King Shantanu was all alone-a feeling of loneliness and sadness had crept into him. At such times, Shantanu used to take long walks in the forest beside the Yamuna. In one such walk, a particular fragrance attracted him and he wanted to find the source of such a beautiful aroma. This led him to the riverbed, where he met Satyavati, and he requested her to marry him. Satyavati replied that she could not take any decision regarding the matter without her father's consent. When they approached her father, he agreed on the condition that the son bore of his daughter would be heir to Shantanu's throne.
When Devavrata got to know this, he pledged to take celibacy and that he would give up his throne. He would always ensure that righteousness ruled over the throne. His father named him Bhisma and gave him a boon of death upon wish.
Years passed. Satyavati had two sons, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. Chitrangada died on a battlefield. When the king of Kashi hosted his daughters' swayamvar, Bhisma abducted them on the thought of marrying them to his brother. The Princesses, Ambika and Ambalika did not protest but the eldest princess Amba, who was already in love with King Shalva, protested. Bhisma on knowing about their love sent her to Shalva. However, Shalva rejected her. Amba returned requesting Bhisma to marry her but he refused. She sought the help of Bhagvan Parashurama and acquired the boon of killing him while Bhisma said that if there is a mistake in his actions, he would lay down his weapons on her arrival.
Days passed. Vichitravirya too died and Ambalika and Ambika were forced to go through Niyoga to obtain children calling upon Rishi Ved Vyas. When Ambika approached him, she is said to have closed her eyes in fear and obtained a son who was blind. The child was named Dhritarashra. Ambalika was said to be pale when she approached him and she obtained a pale son. He was called Pandu. When Ambika was asked to go again, she sent her maid in her place, who received an intelligent and smart child who was named Vidura.
Years passed. The children grew up into young boys and later young men. Dhritarashra was immensely strong that he could fight elephants with ease. Pandu was crowned the king of Hastinapur upon the advice of Vidura that a blind man couldn't be crowned a King. He married Princess Kunti on her swayamvar and later married a princess, Madri as a result of a war. Meanwhile, Bhishma approached the king of Gandhar, Subala asking for his daughter's hand in marriage to Dhritarashra. Subala agreed. Gandhari, upon hearing the proposal, decided to stay blindfolded for the rest of her life to be like her husband and tied a cloth on her eyes. Her brother was enraged and shocked hearing about her decision and decided to accompany her to Hastinapur.
One day, when Pandu went hunting with his wives, he killed a dear who was Sage Kindama in disguise. The sage cursed his saying that he would die the moment he touched his wives with desire or objective of getting a child.
Pandu retired to the forest handing over the throne to Dhritarashra who is currently ruling. Now let's peep into the happenings in the life of Pandu's family in the forest and the palace of Hastinapur.
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