Mahabharata

3. Bhishma

Shantanu was once again strolling beside the bank of river Ganga. Although she wronged him but she was the only one who could give her peace. Suddenly, he smelt a divine smell. He looked towards it to see a beautiful woman in a boat, trying to catch a fish. He immediately fell for her, especially for her smell.

He saw how she tried her best to catch the fish. It was a big catch and her hands were bleeding because of gripping the rope that tightly. He shouted at her, "I am king of Hastinapur. Come, I will treat you."

She just showed him her palm, which were full of cuts and said, "You can't heal every wound."

Okay, I will stop with this. Frankly speaking, we both don't know how they met or romanced but they fell in love with each other. Shantanu started to spend majority of his time with her and he was going to marry her too.

However, one evening when they were strolling along the bank of river Ganga (don't ask me why they always did that. Come on man, that was the only thing they could do besides sex and no marriage, no sex. So, they had to do with this) Satyavati saw a beautiful pure looking lady with a twenty something young boy.

Shantanu was surprised to see Goddess Ganga again. She came forward and said, "This is our child, Devratta. He turned twenty five years old today. He is trained under Parshuram (yes, the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. You will find his story quite later in the story) and is able enough to look after Hastinapur. I completed my promise. I must leave now."

With that, Goddess Ganga disappeared and Satyavati grew upset. She thought that one of her children will be the king of Hastinapur. She started running while sobbing. Shantanu wanted to run towards her and console her but his duties as a father didn't let him. He let her go.

Devratta was confused at what was happening. He looked at his father and asked him, "Who was the lady, pitashri (father)?"

Shantanu looked at him with sad eyes and said, "No one. She doesn't matter anymore. Come, I will show you the kingdom."

Devratta was even more confused. Of course she meant a lot to his father and he had some duties towards his father too. He couldn't see his father sad. He followed his father and his father showed him the mahajanapad of Hastinapur. It was a happy kingdom. Everyone was doing their duties and everyone was happy too. As a Kshatriya (warrior), he felt happy from inside too because they were going to be his subjects soon.

Then Shantanu took him towards his army and explained him all the things. Everything was just perfect. He couldn't believe that any mahajanapad can be this perfect. Later, they both had their dinners and went to sleep.

Devratta felt like going and visiting his father. When he went near Shantanu, he found Shantanu drinking and saying distractedly, "I miss you Satyavati. I am sorry but I have some duties towards my son, my Kingdom. I can't ignore them."

Devratta heard this and everything became clear to him. He went to his room and laid down, thinking continuously on what to do to make that lady come back. As soon as the sun rose, he immediately started asking everyone for Satyavati, a woman who smelt divine. While searching, he went to the mahajanapad of Matsya. There, someone guided him towards the chief fisherman. He went inside the hut to see an old man. The same lady from yesterday was cooking in the corner.

Devratta approached her and said with joined hands, "Please, come to my pitashri (father) and make him happy once again."

Satyavati looked at him with hurt eyes and asked, "How can I when he chose you over me? I want my children to be rulers, not servants."

Devratta closed his eyes in sadness at his father's choice and roared loudly, "I take the oath to never rule over Hastinapur and I will remain as a celebate all my life. That way, your children won't have to fear my children too. I swear that I will serve Hastinapur till my last breath."

Suddenly, the sky roared at him and the voice of the gods were heard, "For this Bhishma (harsh) oath of yours, you will be called Bhishma. I give you the power of ichhamrityu (means that he had the power to decide the time when he could die).

Later, Satyavati married Shantanu and was beside him till his last breath. She bore him two sons, Chitrangada and Vichitraveer. Who was Bhishma in his last life? It will be described in the next chapter.

This oath was the first step towards the greatest war in the history of mankind, the Mahabharata.

Okay, sorry but I liked the dramatic sound of that sentence but yes, it indeed was the first reason for Mahabharata. If Bhishma had children, Mahabharata would never have happened. That's why that oath of his was necessary. Once again, no one knows how Shantanu romanced Satyavati nor how and where Bhishma took his oath. No one knows if it was inside the hut or once again, along the banks of river Ganga. Imagine it the way you want it, just remember the end products. Thank you...