The news of the death of Pandu and Madri spread through the forest and the kingdom till it reached the palace at Hastinapura. Yudhishthira was sixteen years old at the time. Vyasa, who was the father of Dhritarashtra, Pandu and Vidura, and all the royal personages, including Bhishma, Vidura, Dhritarashtra and the old Queen Mother, […]
Kunti’s swayamvara was held when she was older and she married King Pandu. She went with him to Hastinapura, the capital of his kingdom. Pandu also married Madri, the sister of King Shalya of Madra. The custom was to make friends with different kings through marriage. Once Pandu was out hunting. He killed a male
Krishna’s grandfather had a beautiful little daughter, Pritha. His cousin, Kuntibhoja, was childless, so he adopted Pritha and called her Kunti. She was good-natured and cared for guests very well. Her conduct pleased Sage Durvasa, who came there once. He gave her a mantra by which she could request any god to give her a
Dhritarashtra and Pandu were trained in the scriptures and in warfare. Dhritarashtra was immensely strong. But he could not be made the king because he was blind. He became bitter at this. His marriage was to be arranged, so his mother, Satyavati, sent Bhishma to Gandhara. The princess of Gandhara, Gandhari, had received a boon
The princes were minors. Therefore, Bhishma looked after the kingdom as the regent, helping Satyavati in all matters of the state. He also arranged for the education of the three boys. Dhritarashtra was physically the strongest; Pandu was the best archer and Vidura was wise in all matters of state and right conduct. As the
The news of Mandavya reached the king who was frightened at the cruelty his soldiers had shown towards the wise and learned sage. He asked his forgiveness and took out the spear. The sage was not angry with the king. He went to ask Dharma, the lord who gave justice to everyone, why he had
Long ago, a wise sage named Mandavya lived in a forest and meditated deeply. When he meditated, he was completely unaware of what was going on around him. One day, some robbers, who were running to escape the king’s soldiers, came to the ashrama and saw the sage meditating. ‘This is a good place to
Satyavati was very worried that one heir would be born blind and the other pale. She had seen both her sons die when they were young. It was necessary that the successor to Shantanu should be a strong and capable warrior and leader. So, she sent Ambalika once more to Vyasa. But the frightened Ambalika,
Unfortunately, King Vichitravirya died without leaving an heir. Satyavati felt that her sons had died because she had been unjust to Bhishma, denying him his right as the heir. So, she asked him to become king and marry the two widowed queens. But Bhishma had taken an unbreakable vow. So, he refused and reminded Satyavati
Amba was born as the daughter of King Drupada of Panchala. One day, she saw the garland of ever-fresh flowers hung on the palace gate. No one had dared to put it on all these years. Amba wore it. Drupada was terrified that her action would bring Bhishma there in anger. So, he exiled her
Bhishma sent Amba with all honour to Salva, since she had chosen him as her husband. But Salva said that he had been defeated by Bhishma in the contest for Amba’s hand. So, he refused to marry Amba. Hurt and angry, Amba went to Bhishma, who asked Vichitravirya to marry her. But he refused because
Bhishma led Satyavati to Hastinapura where she married King Shantanu. They had two sons: Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. Chitrangada succeeded Shantanu. But, unfortunately, he was killed in a battle with a gandharva. He died childless, so Vichitravirya was crowned the King of Hastinapura. Vichitravirya was a minor. Therefore, Bhishma guided him and ruled as his regent
King Shantanu lived happily for many years. Then one day he was drawn to the banks of the Yamuna by a sweet fragrance. It came from Satyavati, the beautiful daughter of the Chief Fisherman, because of a boon from a sage. Shantanu wanted to marry her. The Chief Fisherman agreed, but on the condition that
Satyavati was the beautiful daughter of the chief fisherman. She had a very special fragrance which people could smell from a long distance away. She was a gandharva’s daughter born through a fish. Therefore, when she was born, she smelt like a fish. As she grew up, she used to ferry passengers across the river
Many years passed. Shantanu was very sad because he had lost Ganga and all his sons. One day, he found a handsome youth by the riverside. The boy was playing, shooting arrows to build a dam across the river. Shantanu was quite fascinated with the boy’s skill. As he watched, Ganga emerged from the river
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