Literary Sources and Names
Little is said about Satyavati in the Mahabharata; however, later texts - the Harivamsa and the Devi Bhagavata Purana – elaborate her legend.
Satyavati is known by numerous names in the Mahabharata, among them Daseyi, Gandhakali, Gandhavati, Kali, Matysyagandha, Satya, Vasavi and Yojanagandha. The name "Daseyi" – a term often used by her stepson Bhishma used to address her – means one of the Dasas (slaves), or a Dasa aboriginal princess. Vasavi means "daughter of king Vasu". Her birth name, Kali (the dark one), indicates her dark complexion. Her other birth name, Satyavati, means "truthful"; satya means "veracity". As noted above, she was also known as Matsyagandha or Matsyagandhi in her earlier life – and Gandhakali ("fragrant dark one"), Gandhavati and Yojanagandha in later life.
Read more about this topic: Satyavati
Famous quotes containing the words literary, sources and/or names:
“Learning is, in too many cases, but a foil to common sense; a substitute for true knowledge. Books are less often made use of as “spectacles” to look at nature with, than as blinds to keep out its strong light and shifting scenery from weak eyes and indolent dispositions.... The learned are mere literary drudges.”
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830)
“My profession brought me in contact with various minds. Earnest, serious discussion on the condition of woman enlivened my business room; failures of banks, no dividends from railroads, defalcations of all kinds, public and private, widows and orphans and unmarried women beggared by the dishonesty, or the mismanagement of men, were fruitful sources of conversation; confidence in man as a protector was evidently losing ground, and women were beginning to see that they must protect themselves.”
—Harriot K. Hunt (1805–1875)
“I come to this land to ride my horse,
to try my own guitar, to copy out
their two separate names like sunflowers, to conjure
up my daily bread, to endure,
somehow to endure.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)