Chapter 9 - Vichitraviryan and afterwards

So that was the story of the first princess of Kasi. However

the Mahabharatha is not just the story of Amba. The story
now moves on to Hastinapur. Bhishma had brought the three
princesses of Kasi to be married to Vichitraviryan. Amba, as
we had seen had seen did not marry Vichitraviryan.
Ambika and Ambalika, the other two beautiful princesses of
Kasi were very happy at being chosen to be the queens of
Hastinapur.
The two of them married Vichitraviryan and happily lived in
Hastinapur. Vichitraviryan though trained well by his brother
Bhishma, unfortunately, was not too inclined to look after the
kingdom. He was content to leave that in the able hands of
Bhishma. And after marriage Vichitraviryan became more
focused on his wives than anything else. He spent all his time
with his wives ignoring the kingdom completely.
However Satyavati and Bhishma were more than capable of
dealing with the kingdom and the people of the kingdom
never complained. Seven years went by and still
Vichitraviryan never showed any signs of taking charge of the
kingdom.....However letting Vichitraviryan go his way,
proved to be a serious error on the part of Satyavati and
Bhishma. The excesses of Vichitraviryan went so bad that he
came to suffer from tuberculosis.
The people in the court tried calling physicians from all over
the country who tried every known remedy and even a lot of
unknown cures.....However it was wasted. Vichitraviryan died
seven years after the date of his marriage....

Satyvathi was inconsolable. The death of Vichitraviryan had
hit her bad and she lived like an automaton....without
emotions or without having to think.....And then after all the
funeral rites of Vichitraviryan were completed....the irony of
the situation hit Satyavathi so suddenly that she came to sob
uncontrollably....Unable to pacify her, the guards summoned
Bhishma.
'Mother! What is it?' Bhishma asked as a whiff of her
powerful perfume swept over Bhishma. Bhishma wondered
for the millionth time about how Satyavathi had the heavenly
divine perfume on her body and gave it up. The queen never
spoke of it and Bhishma had smartly never asked. Over the
years both Bhishma and Satyvathi had developed enormous
respect for each other as they had both seen each other
through all the sorrows which had plagued the Kuru family.
Satyavathi saw Bhishma and fresh tears filled her face. She
shook her head unable to speak. Bhishma was alarmed. He
knew enough of Satyavathi to know that she was a really
tough person and did not break easily. Bhishma led Satyavathi
to the chair and made her sit down and waited till Satyavathi
regained some control over herself.
'This is so wrong.....This is all so wrong....' Satyavathi said
murmuring looking at the strong and handsome face of the
fierce man before her. Bhishma looked at Satyavathi not
saying anything. 'You should have ruled this kingdom,
Bhishma! This kingdom belongs to you! It always has....! All
the things which are happening....' Satyavathi said wringing
her hands in anguish. 'All these bad things are happening,
because you were robbed of your kingdom! If only my foolish
father had not imposed such a condition, then you would have
been the king of this kingdom and I would have had both my
sons with me.....!' Satyavathi said feeling like as if someone
was poking her heart with a rather blunt instrument. 'Do you
know Bhishma, after Vichitraviryna had....' Satyavathi choked
and burst into fresh tears. However she shook her head and
picked herself up. 'I thought of ending my life! I mean what
use do I have! My husband is dead and both my sons have
died....'
Bhishma looked rigid for a few minutes and said gruffly. 'You
are the queen of Hastinapur! You cannot entertain such
foolish thoughts!' Satyavathi looked at Bhishma not saying
anything for a few minutes. For any passerby Bhishma looked
the same strict, proud and stubborn....However Satyavathi
knew Bhishma better. From his sunken dull eyes, she knew
exactly how much Bhishma missed Vichitraviryan. She knew
that Bhishma loved Vichitraviryan like his own son and
grieved him as much as she did...probably more...
Satyavathi smiled wryly through her tears as she heard what
Bhishma had said. 'Trust me, that was exactly what prevented
me from taking my life!' She shook her head hastily. 'I could
not leave my kingdom just like that! Though I am a fisher
woman by birth, I am now the queen of this kingdom! I
cannot just forsake it!' Satyavathi looked at Bhishma straight
in the eye. 'And that is the reason I want to talk to you now!'
Bhishma frowned. There was a subtle change in Satyavathi's
behaviour just now. Until now she had just been his father's
wife. Now she looked.....regal, like the queen of Hastinapur. 'I
want you to break your vow and marry your brother's wives!'
She said quietly.
Bhishma was beyond stunned. That was the last thing he had
expected from Satyavathi. Though Bhishma was numb, a
portion of him could not help but marvel at the woman before
him. She had put her own grieving aside and had asked him
this because of her love for her kingdom.. to make sure that
her kingdom was not without a heir....Bhishma felt his respect
for Satyavathi grow a little more.
But then he shook his head gravely. 'I am afraid, I cannot
break my vow! You should know that by now!' Bhishma gave
a peculiar look and Satyvathi knew exactly what that meant.
They were both thinking of Amba. Amba with all her beauty,
intelligence and stubbornness had wanted the exact same
thing from Bhishma and Bhishma had resisted her not for
one...two or three years but six years. The chances of
Satyavathi succeeding where Amba had failed were
exceedingly remote.
However the queen of Hastinapur did not give up easily. She
took a deep breath. 'It was for the protection of Dharma that
you took the vow, Bhishma! It is for the same Dharma that I
am asking you to break it! The kingdom cannot be without a
heir and you know it! You cannot just forsake Dharma and
pretend that your vow is more important than that!' Satyavathi
clutched her fingers tightly in a fist as she hoped.....really
hoped that Bhishma could be made to see reason.
Bhishma looked stunned for the second time, as he looked at
Satyavathi and suddenly images of his own mother came to
him. He had no doubt that the majestic Ganga and this woman
were more alike than anyone knew. He had images of his own
learning of how Sage Parashurama had taught him....Bhishma
shook his head. Focus! That was when he realized why these
things were coming to his memory....
'Parashurama!' Bhishma breathed suddenly. Satyavathi looked
completely puzzled unable to understand. Bhishma continued
rapidly. 'Don't you see! That is your answer!' Satyavathi
shook her head looking worried.
'Parashurama's father Jamadagni was killed by King Arjuna of
the Haihaya clan! That is the reason Parashurama does not
like warriors and kings! He hates all of them!' Before
Satyavathi wondered what this had to do with her, Bhishma
continued rapidly. 'And so Parashurama started his battle
against all the warriors of the world. He killed not only King
Arjuna but every single warrior in the world!' Satyavathi
looked horrified as Bhishma continued. 'And soon all the
kingdoms in the world were left without either the king or an
heir to continue the kingdom and it was at that time that the
queens of the kingdoms approached learned men....sages,
rishis! It was an accepted custom for the queens to have
children with sages and rishis!' Bhishma said his eyes
suddenly smiling. 'That customs follows till now!' He said
happily. 'So if you know of any powerful sages....they may be
able to continue the Kuru line, as per your wishes!'
Bhishma looked alarmed as Satyavathi suddenly fell silent.
Satyavathi's eyes had a mixture of guilt, shyness, and an
emotion which Bhishma could not identify. She seemed so
still that Bhishma wondered whether she had heard even a
single word of what he had said. Satyavathi took in a deep
breath. 'There is something I have to tell you!'
Satyavati looked at the floor probably seeking inspiration
from it. 'I do not know the story of my birth, but it was said
that I was found inside a fish!' Bhishma looked startled as
Satyavati continued. 'I used to smell of fish
continuously....that was the reason I was even called
'Matysagandhi'. The heavenly perfume from Satyavati (also
called Yojanagandhi because of it) wafted towards Bhishma
as he found himself listening to the story in rapt attention. 'My
father as you know is the head fisherman. As I grew older I
ferried people across the Yamuna in my boat!' Satyavathi took
a deep breath as he continued. 'Once....the great sage
Parasaran came to the banks of the Yamuna and I ferried him
across...' Satyavathi said blushing slightly.
Satyavathi cleared her throat and continued the story. 'The
sage fell in love with me....He created a mist which totally
obscured the banks from the boat. And there in the island in
the middle of the river, Sage Parasaran and me had a son!'
Satyavathi said shyly. 'The son was no ordinary mortal! As I
saw the son grew up before my very eyes! In a matter of
minutes he crossed his childhood and reached manhood! My
son was born with the knowledge of the four Vedas and he
was the one who divided it into four. That was the reason he
was called Veda Vyasa (Vyasa means one who divides.). He
was black and was called Krishna because of that and because
he was born on an island he was called as Dwaipayana.'
'Krishna Dwaipayana Veda Vyasa is your son?' Bhishma
asked incredulously.
Satyavathi nodded her head with pride in her eyes. 'Yes! Veda
Vyasa left for the Himalayas to meditate but he told me that if
ever I needed him, all I had to do was think of him and he
would appear before me!'
'After my son left, Sage Parasaran blessed me that the the
smell of the fish which was always on me, would go away and
I would have this perfume which could be smelled for miles
around....Sage Parasaran also left after that!' Satyavathi shook
her head as the memory faded. She turned her attention to
Bhishma. 'So....Veda Vyasa is also Vichitraviryan's brother
and he is a great sage! Do you think it would be a good idea to
call him here....'

Bhishma vigorously nodded his head, part of him reeling from
the story he had just heard and the other part happy that
Satyavathi was not going to be after him for marrying his
brother's wives.....