Satyavati is one of the central characters of Mahabharat. She was the wife of Kuru king Shantanu and the great grandmother of Kauravas and Pandavas. A very powerful and influential woman, she sowed the seeds of the great war Mahabharat due to her untamed ambitions and desires. Satyavati means ‘truthful’.
Satyavati was the daughter of a fisherman chieftain, Dasharaj and was brought up as a commoner on the banks of the river Yamuna. Another legend says that she was the biological daughter of Chedi king Vasu and a cursed apsara who was turned into a fish called Adrika. Due to the smell emanating from her body, she was known as Matsyagandha (“She who smells like fish”). She helped her father in his job as ferryman and fisherman.
One day King Shantanu was taking a stroll on the banks of river Yamuna. He saw a beautiful girl and instantly fell in love with her. That beautiful girl was Satyavati. He said ‘O lady! I am mesmerised by your beauty and have completely fallen in love with you! Will you marry me?’ Satyavati thought for a moment and replied, ‘O King! I would be honored to be your wife. However, you have to ask my father for my hand in marraige.’
Hearing this, King Shantanu went to meet her father Dasharaj, to seek his permission to marry her. Dasharaj asked for a few minutes alone with his daughter and came back and spoke, ‘O King, I would be happy but I have a condition. Satyavati’s children will inherit the kingdom from you. I will give my permission only if you agree to fulfill this condition.’ Shantanu was shocked to hear this and refused to accept the condition. He left completely dejected and heartbroken.
Shantanu had a son called Devavrat from his previous marriage to Ganga. Devavrat was an invincible warrior and also virtuous at the same time. He was loved by the people of Hastinapur. He was truly capable of being one of the greatest kings of Kuru dynasty. Devavrat was the crown prince and the heir to Shantanu’s throne.
Shantanu started spending time alone in grief and solitude after he returned. Devavrat noticed this change in his father’s behaviour. He discovered the reason for his father’s grief through his minister and secret informants. Devavrat visited Dasharaj and said ‘O Chieftian of the Fisherman! Would you be kind enough to give your daughter in marraige to my father, King Shantanu?’
Hearing this Dasharaj said, ‘O Prince Devavrat, I would if you promise that Satyavati’s children will inherit the kingdom after King Shantanu.’ To this Devavrat responded, ‘Is this the only reason? Yes. I will give up my right to the throne and the kingdom. Satyavati’s children will inherit this kingdom after King Shantanu.’ Dasharaj wasn’t satisfied. He thought Devavrat’s grandchildren would stake claim to the kingdom.
Hearing this Devavrat declared, ‘I Devavrat, son of Ganga and Maharaj Shantanu, take a vow, that I will not marry and have children all my life. I will serve the King of Hastinapur until my last breath.’ Hearing this Dasharaj agreed to marry Satyavati to King Shantanu.
King Shantanu found out the whereabouts of Devavrat and rushed to Dasharaj’s home. However he reached just in time to witness Devavrat take this terrible vow of remaining a lifelong celibate. King Shantanu was a very loving father and gave Devavrat the boon of ‘Iccha mrityu’. Devavrat could decide the time when he would leave the physical world. The celestial beings showered flowers on Devavrat for his great sacrifice and he came to be known as ‘Bhishma’ for his terrible vow.
Satyavati and King Shantanu married soon and had two children – Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. Shantanu died shortly after Vichitravirya’s birth. Chitrangada was crowed king after Shantanu. He was killed in a battle with a ‘gandharv’. Vichitravirya died at a very young age due to tuberculosis and left behind two childless widows – Ambika and Ambalika, princesses of Kashi-Kosala. After all these events unfolded, Satyavati regretted the fact that Bhishma took a vow to remain celibate. She considered him a threat to her power position before marriage and now wanted him to marry, which he politely refused. Satyavati then arranged for a ‘Niyog’ to produce a hier to the Hastinapur throne.
Satyavati and her father’s lust for power and their desire and ambition to remain authoritative, took the powerful kingdom of Hastinapur on the path of self-destruction. It is a classic example where to achieve one’s individual ambitions, people forget the greater good and end up doing irreversible damage. Typically nothing good comes out of it and they eventually regret having made these choices.
