Satyavati - Marriage With Santanu

Marriage With Santanu

One day Santanu, the Kuru king of Hastinapur, came to the forest on a hunting trip and was mesmerized by the musk-fragrance emanating from Satyavati. Allured by her sweet scent, Santanu reached Satyavati's house and, seeing her, fell in love at first sight. The king asked the fisherman-chief for his daughter's hand; the fisherman said his daughter would marry the king if – and only if – her sons would inherit the throne. The king, shocked and dejected, returned to the palace since he had already anointed his son, Devavrata, as heir apparent. Devavrata was distressed by his father's condition; he learned about the promise asked by the fisherman-chief from a minister. Immediately, Devavrata rushed to the hut of the fisherman-chief and begged for Satyvati's hand on his father's behalf. The fisherman repeated his condition and told Devavrata that only Santanu was worthy of Satyavati; he had rejected marriage proposals from even Brahmarishis like Asita. Devavrata renounced his claim to the throne in favour of Satyavati's son, but the fisherman contended that Devavrata's children might dispute his grandson's claim. Intensely, Devavrata pledged the "terrible" vow of Brahmacharya - celibacy. The fisherman immediately gave Satyavati to Devavrata, who was henceforth called Bhishma ("the terrible"). Bhishma presented Satyavati to Santanu, who married her. In some versions of the tale, it is Satyavati who assured the inheritance of the throne to her progeny. Meyer comments that the wish of Satyavati's foster-father was an unusual shulka ("a price given to parents for the purchase of a bride" in ancient India).

In the Devi Bhagavata Purana, Satyavati's premarital first-born, Vyasa, laments that his mother abandoned him to fate immediately after birth. He returns to his birthplace in search of his mother who, he finds out, is now the queen of Hastinapur.