Adi Parvamu- The Oath of Bhishma

 Devavrata had understood the intention of King Dasa, he immediately decided what he was going to do. "Oh! King Dasa, I hereby take an oath in front of all these people, I am giving up my rights of becoming a king at this very moment. The royal heir of the kingdom would be the one born to King Shantanu and your daughter Satyavati, he would be the king and the sole Lord of our dynasty." Everyone around were very unhappy by this decision and felt sorrowful.

King Dasa said "What you say is true, you are a strong follower of Dharma, you will abide by your words....but..." and he paused again and then said "What is the guarantee that your kids would abide by your decision?"

Devavrata said " Do not hesitate, I will not be marrying anyone. I take an oath to remain celibate, I do not care if I do not have kids or reach the Punya Loka." and took an oath. Gods started to shower flowers in praise of his mighty oath and called him Bhishma , people started singing praises in his glory. He was referred as  Bhishma by one and all.

King Dasa succeeded in achieving what he wanted, he sent YojanaGandha along with Bhishma. He took her to Hasthinapur in a golden chariot. Shantanu hugged his son in extreme happiness and said "You have done something that is not done by humans, you are my beloved" and kissed him on his forehead. "You will not have death until you wish for it" blessed the father to his son Bhishma who had sacrificed his happiness for the sake of the dynasty.

Shantanu and Satyavati got married in a very lavish and royal manner. They had two sons  Chitrangada and Vichitravirya, before their sons could reach adolescence Shantanu passed away. Bhishma performed the last rights to his father and crowned Chitrangada as the next king. Chitrangada was always a very fickle minded person, very arrogant and would not care for anyone or heed to anyones words. He would pick up fights with everyone and would disrespect gods and gandharvas. A gandharva named Chitrangada could not handle this behaviour of Kaurava Chitrangada  and waged a war against him. The grounds of Kurukshetra were turning in to extreme battle grounds, the Kauravas and gandharvas went in to a very fierce battle. Kaurava Chitrangada and gandharva Chitrangada fought like bulls. Gandharvas are known for their tricky magical spells, they fought the battle with deciet, Kaurava Chitrangada was assasinated.

Bhishma throned Vichitravirya as the king, he also started looking for alliances for Vichitravirya. At the same time , the King of Kashi was also looking for alliances for his three daughters Amba, Ambika and Ambalika. He had declared a Swayamvara for his daughters. Bhishma immediately started to Kashi and was armed with weapons.

Many kings from various lands had come to the Swayamvara, Bhishma made his way ahead of all of them. Everyone was surprised at the way Bhishma was progressing, he asked the princesses to be seated in his chariot and said " I am taking the princesses for my brother Vichitravirya, if you are capable, take them away from me" and challenged all the kings who had assembled there. " Showing demonic behaviour in weddings is a trait of gandharva kings, winning princesses in a Swayamvara is even more great. Hence, I will win over all the kings aeembled here and leave" said Bhishma to the King of Kashi. All the kings were offended, they waged a war against Bhishma, the place had turned in to a battle field. There was a shower of arrows all over.

 Bhishma became Pralaya Rudra (Lord of destruction), he held his bow and arrows and started to wage war fiercely. He defeated all the kings, everyone ran to save their lives. Bhishma was stopped by King Salva while he tries to head home. Salva challenges Bhishma to wage a war, everyone around starts praising Salva for his brave attempt. King Salva shot thousands of arrows and fought a very fierce battle against Bhishma. This did not stop Bhishma, he started to retaliate back, with one of his arrows he killed the charioteer of King Salva, then his two horses, then broke the chariot. King Salva begged for his life and left the battle.

Bhishma was the unstoppable, he took the princesses and came back to Hasthinapur, he brought them to his mother Satyavati. She wanted to get the princesses married to Vichitravirya, but the older princess Amba was in love with King Salva, she refused to marry Vichitravirya. She requested Bhishma to follow Dharma and return her back to King Salva. Bhishma and Satyavati thought about her request and consulted many saints and sages, they then sent her to King Salva's kingdom along with some elderly people, they got Ambika and Ambalika married to Vichitravirya. The wedding was a grand ceremony, but Vichitravirya had changed completely after that. He was a very responsible king but after the wedding, he was in the comfort of his wives enjoying marrital bliss and had shunned all the responsibilities as a King. Ambika and Ambalika were very beautiful and he was spending his whole time admiring their beauty, he was a lustful person always engaged in his own world of lust. Having engaged in bodily happiness and lust all the time, he passed away very soon due to tuberculosis. He did not have any heir, Bhishma has to perform his last rights. All her dreams were shattered, Satyavati was mourning the loss of both her sons. Ambika and Ambalika were mourning the death of their husband, the kingdom has no king now. Bhishma was the only heir of the dynasty, he consoled his mother and his sisters in law., he had to take up the responsibility of the kingdom once again.

One day Satyavati called Bhishma and said " The glory of King Shantanu lies in your hands, you are the sole heir performing his last rights and death ceremony each year. I want his glory to shine and go for generations, for that I would need your help. You have studied all Dharmas and you know everything, please do not say no to my request. You will have to rule the Kuru Kingdom and also marry and have kids. Our dynasty started from Lord Brahma and has flourished well with kith and kin, I do not want our dynasty to stop with you."

" Please do not order me to do this Mother, I have taken an oath to be celibate. The Moon may give up his cold and the Sun may give up the heat, but I will not give up on the oath taken for my father. But, I will make sure your wish is fulfilled. I will make sure that my father's dynasty survives and prospers. I do not have to give up my oath for this, there are many alternatives in Dharma, there has always been a Kshatriya Dharma which has been coming down from ages. " Bhishma said.

He immediately summoned the ministers, sages, learned people of the community and started conversations with them regarding the problem mentioned by his mother. " Parashurama's father was killed by Karthaveerya Arjuna. Parashurama not only killed Karthaveera but also made sure that he even killed the babies of these kshatriyas in their wombs. The women were left with no husbands and
 had to resort to brahmins to keep their dynasty intact(they had bourne the kids of brahmins).

Adi Parvamu- The Story of Shantanu and Satyavati

Four years passed by, one day while hunting Shantanu reached the banks of river Yamuna. As soon as he reached, he could smell a wonderful perfumed filled air which are blowing from the river. He was dragged towards the smell and started going towards the river. As he went more towards Yamuna, he saw a boatyard and on a boat was this beautiful young lass named Satyavati, who is also called YojanaGandha, meaning that she will have fragrant smell for even many Yojanas distance. He was spell bound by her beauty and her fragrance. She glowed with golden hue, her body was slim and curvaceous. Her eyes resembled those of a frightened deer, her smile was so beautiful. Shantanu was just taken aback by her divine beauty. He went close to her and tried to involve her in a conversation saying " Who are you? Why are you rowing the boat alone here? I am surprised". She smiled and looked at the king and said " I am the daughter of King Dasa and to keep up with his Dharma, I work on the banks of the river helping people cross it.

Shantanu had heard of Satyavati's beauty before and now he got to see her. He went to King Dasa directly and asked for Satyavati's hand in marriage. King Das was very happy and he greeted the king with great honours and said " It’s a custom to give the girl to her groom in marriage, but I am booned to have the great king as my son in law. What else do I want? But I do have one concern in my mind, if you agree to it then I will give my daughter's hand in marriage". " If the request that you are making is worth giving then I will surely abide by it" said the king. " I request that Satyavati's son be your royal heir and become the king after you" said King Dasa. Shantanu was taken back by his request, he already had Devavrata, who had been crowned a prince. How could he agree to King Dasa's request of making Satyavati's son as the royal heir?. Shantanu said " Please ask me for something else". He tried to convince King Dasa that he has an older son who is already a prince, but King Dasa was not convinced. He said that unless his request is granted he cannot give his daughter's hand in marriage.

Dissapointed and sad Shantanu returned to Hastinapura. He could not get Satyavati out of his mind, he could not concentrate on anything, he seemed lost and stayed as a loner. Devavrata was worried about his father's behaviour. He went to his father and said " Father! We don’t have any enemies even in the dreams, our people are very happy. Kings from far of lands and kingdoms are bound by your word. We are all worried about you being drifting away from normal life". After a long pause and thought process he replied to Devavrata saying that " Having one son is never like having sons, having one eye never gives the satisfaction of complete eyesight. Having one son is like not having any sons says Dharma Shastra. You are a very good archer, a very brave knight. Anything might happen to you anytime, how can I rely on you to carry my family name? Agnihotras and Vedas and kids- the best lineages should never leave them. That is the reason I would like to have some more sons so that they can help you".

Devavrata consulted his knowledgeable ministers and realized that Shantanu had his heart stuck on Satyavati. He went to King Dasa with all his relatives and asked Satyavati's hand in marriage for Shantanu. King Dasa honoured Devavrata and said " You are an embodiment of Dharma, you know the difference between Artha and Anartha(demonic tendencies) and are very responsible. Since you have come to talk about your father's wedding I am very happy. Satyavati was born to the Chedi king Vasu (also known as Uparichara Vasu) and a fish, who was actually an Apsara, Adrika. Vasu wanted her to be married to Shantanu, that is the reason I rejected Devala who had come to ask her hand in marriage, I know I cannot get a son in law like Shantanu. But I do have a problem here, step son, i.e. you. I feel that you are their enemy as you are extra ordinarily powerful. One you knot your eyebrows, even the most powerful will succumb to you. So, now you know what my issue is, so please find a solution to this problem".

Adi Parvamu- The Story of MahaBhisha and Ganga

There lived a King named MahaBhisha who was born in the ikshwaku dynasty. He was a very generous and righteous person. He performed one thousand Ashwamedhas and a hundred Rajasuyas. He made all the gods and Indra very happy. With all his good deeds he was able to go to the DevaLoka and Brahma Loka. He enjoyed all luxuries along with all the gods in the abode of Brahma.

One day in the court of Brahma, Ganga came in the form of a woman. A gust of wind blew and her Saree blew along and her thighs were shown. All the gods turned their heads in a sign of respect, but MahaBhisha looked at her with lust. Brahma was extremely angry with MahaBhisha's behaviour, and he cursed him saying " You will be born in Bhuloka". MahaBhisha repented for what he did and fell on the feet of Brahma. MahaBhisha then said " I know the power of your curse, but please consider my plea. There is a very righteous person named Pratheepa in Bhuloka, I would like to be born to him", Brahma agreed to his request.

Ganga was moved by the situation in which MahaBhisha landed, she felt that if it was not for her, he would have been fine. She was impressed by his feelings for her. She started getting attracted towards him. Her love grew for him even more when he was cursed by Brahma. She followed MahaBhisha to Bhuloka. On the way she met with the eight Vasus, they were leaving the DevaLoka and were in a bad state. She asked them what the problem was and where they were headed. They replied saying they were headed to Bhuloka. "We were cursed by Vasishta to be born to humans, we do not wish to be born to any normal woman. We heard about you and are on our way to meet you. MahaBhisha will be born to Pratheepa as Shantanu. You will be united with him, If you oblige we will be born to you and Shantanu."

Ganga obliged to their request, Vasus then said "We will be born one after other in a row, as soon as we are born please leave us in to water. We would like get rid of our human life immediately.Vasishta has also ordered us to do so". But Ganga replied saying " If all of you leave your human form, I would at least want one son who can live longer". They said " The eighth Vasu will be your son who will live. He will take 1/8th of our life span and will live longer. Are you fine with that?" Ganga and Vasus mutually agreed and left for Bhuloka. Pratheepa was the King of Hasthinapur, one day he was doing penance on the banks of river Ganga. She came and stood in front of him, she was extremely beautiful, her body was golden in color. Her eyes were very bright and beautiful and her beauty was divine. She looked at him and smiled and sat on his right thigh.

Pradeepa was taken back by this behaviour and questioned her " Why are you sitting on my thigh? Who are you?". She said " I came for you, I like you. I will be your wife". Pradeepa replied saying " This cannot happen. I will not see or touch any other woman other than my wife Sunanda. You cannot be my wife, don't waste your efforts. Another thing is, a wife can sit on the left thigh and kids should sit on the right thigh. Since you sat on my right thigh you are my daughter in law". Ganga approved to what Pradeepa said.

Among the sons of King Pradeepa, eldest son Devapi suffered from leprosy and abdicated his inheritance to become a hermit, son Bahlika devoted his life to conquer the oldAryan territories and hence Shantanu had become the King. Pradeepa left to become a hermit after Shantanu was crowned as King. While leaving he told Shantanu " you will find a beautiful woman on the banks of Ganga, you will have to marry her. Do not ask her whereabouts. Just agree to what she has to say".

One day Shantanu went for hunting, he was alone during the hunt. He reached the banks of river Ganga. He was enjoying the cool breezes on the banks of the river, he then saw a very beautiful woman sitting on a rock by the bank. She was glowing with feminine beauty, she wore a silk saree and was wearing ornaments worn by gods. Shantanu was taken aback by her divine glow and beauty and thought" Is she the goddess of the forest? Or does she belong to Nāga clan? Or is she a goddess? Is she Gandharva ? Who is she? How can a human come in to this forest? Who is she waiting for? Her face and smile look very familiar, like I have known her for a long time. Maybe she is the one who my father told me about? No doubt she is the one". He wanted to ask her but then he stopped himself. Kamadeva released his arrows and made them fall in love with each other. " I have been waiting for you for a long time now" said Ganga, "I have been longing to meet you" said Shantanu. " Do not say no to whatever I do" said Ganga, " My father has already asked me to follow what you say" said Shantanu. " We shall live together as long as to listen to me and never question me for anything I do, the moment you question me, I will have to leave you and go forever" said Ganga, " I completely agree to your demands" said Shantanu.

Shantanu and Ganga were very compatible and happy in each others company. Her life revolved around him and he could not live a second without her. Ganga conceived and gave birth to a healthy baby boy, she immediately took him in to the river banks and drowned him in the river. Shantanu didn't utter a word, she repeated her act of drowning the babies soon after she gave birth. Shantanu was heartbroken, he knew questioning her would be the end of their relationship, he was very much worried of her demonic acts and was getting impatient. Ganga became pregnant for the 8th time and as usual she began proceeding towards the river banks to drown the child. Shantanu became furious and said " You have already killed seven of my kids, I kept quiet all this time because of your love, you do not have sympathy or the feeling of guilt for having done all this, I will not let go of this baby."

Ganga stopped right there and she began smiling and said " Well, this is the end of our relationship, but I will make everything clear to you of my behavior". You have mistaken me for a human being but I am the river goddess 'Ganga'. All these baby boys areEight Vasus, they had to take human form because of the curse of Sage Vasishta. They came to me and said that they wished to be born in my womb and requested that they be drowned and given salvation as soon as they were born. I had to take the form of a Woman because of this godly act, you will also reach heaven because you have fathered the Eight Vasus. This eight son of yours has some work to accomplish on this earth, and this is why you are destined to question me today. He will grow up to be a scholar who is well versed in all Dharmas, he will live for the welfare of the world.

"The Eight Vasus?" exclaimed Shantanu " Aren't they Gods? I thought they were ones who were not worried about anything, who were not connected to the human world. They being born as humans? Were they cursed by Sage Vasishta ? Then, seven of them will be going to heaven and the eighth one will be held back here on earth, I am very confused" he said. "Yes, Sage Vasishta' s curse is the reason for all this" said Ganga. " Varuna's son Vasishta had constructed an Ashram in the cave of Mount Meru and was performing penance in there.Nandini, was theKamadhenu that lived withVasishta in his Ashram. She was the daughter ofSurabhi who is the daughter of Daksha, and the wife of the rishi Kasyapa. She was a miraculous cow of plenty who could give her owner whatever he desired. One day the Eight Vasus, accompanied by their wives were strolling on Mount Meru. Nandini, from Vasishta's Ashram caught their glance. They were very much amazed by the cow's ability to bestow anything to its owner. The eighth Vasu Prabhasa's wife Yogasiddhi started to admire the cow and had this strong desire to own it. "Dear, the milk of this cow is so miraculous that the person who drinks it will live for ten thousand years, they will be free of diseases and will never show the signs of aging. The people who own it are very great. Jithavathi, who is the daughter of Useenara is my friend. She lives on Nara Loka, I always wanted to give her something. I wish I could give her this Kamadhenu." said Yogasiddhi to her husband Prabhasa. Everyone had come to a conclusion that they will be taking the cow and Prabhasa took the initiative and took the cow along with him.

Unable to find Nandini, Vasishta searched for the cow throughout the forest. Finally with his clairvoyance was able to find out that she has been taken by the vasus. He got very angry and curses them saying " Go take birth in a human womb!". After knowing about the curse, the Eight Vasus came rushing to sage Vasishta and pleaded him to forgive them. " We are guilty of the mistake and we did that in ignorance. You are the personification of Dharma, please relieve us from Nara Loka very soon." they said. Vasishta's anger subdued. " Let it happen as you wish, as soon as you get a human body, you will be relieved of it. But Prabhasa is the culprit and is responsible for all this to happen, hence he will be there on earth for a long time. He will not have any kids" said Vasishta ." Prabhasa, is this son Devavrata, this is the godly secret. I am leaving now, Devavrata will be raised by me until he is 16 years old" said Ganga and she vanished in to thin air along with the baby.

Everything seemed like a dream to Shantanu, he could not recover from what had happened. The time he spent with Ganga felt like a fraction of a second. Days passed by, his kingdom expanded in all directions, he was respected by kings of different countries and kingdoms, he was the embodiment of Dharma. One day Shantanu went on hunting and reached the banks of Ganga, the river was flowing slowly and felt like it was flowing in a slim lane. Shantanu felt that maybe Ganga was feeling leftout and hence was drying up in his absence. He walked on the banks and walked towards a small island on which a handsome young lad who looked like a prince was learning archery, he created a dam with arrows. That was the reason why Ganga was flowing slowly and looked like it was meandering in a small lane. The prince resembled Shantanu very much, Shantanu was surprised by this, he felt a very affectionate and fatherly feeling rushing in his mind towards the prince. The prince looked at Shantanu, the prince also reciprocated with feelings of affection, love, respect towards the king. The prince was unable to understand his feelings towards a stranger.

In the meantime Ganga appeared before them, she held the hand of her son and took him to Shantanu and said " Oh King! this is your son. He studied Vedas like Vasishta, Dharma Shastras like Shukra and Brihaspati and archery like Parasurama. He can be called Sanat Kumara in Brahma Gyana. Hence, I conclude my responsibility here, please take your son with you" and she vanished in to thin air. Shantanu was so excited and extremely ecstatic and he felt that he had obtained the wealth of the entire universe. He assembled all his courtisans, ministers and all the important people in the kingdom and crowned his son as the prince.