In the previous episode, we had witnessed Amba taking a savage resolution to somehow take revenge on Bhishmaachaarya for allegedly insulting her. As Amba goes on with her pursuit, nobody was willing to come forward to fight Bhishmaachaaraya as everyone knew his might and power. However, Amba was determined to take Bhishmaachaarya on, and she requested Parashurama for undertaking this pursuit, along with the divine garland that Bhagawan Muruga had offered her. However, even with the garland, Parashurama wasn’t able to win over Bhishmaachaarya and eventually he too gave up on the pursuit. Annoyed extremely by this, Amba decided to take the extreme step of committing suicide, but not without a strong resolution – She herself would enter into the pursuit of Bhishmaachaarya by transforming herself into someone who would be able to kill Bhishmaachaarya directly. With this, Amba jumped into the fire, killed herself and eventually took a rebirth many years later as “Shikandi”. We would be witnessing in our later episodes as to how this Shikandi is going to be directly responsible for Bhishmaachaarya’s downfall.
So till now, we’ve witnessed the “Charitra” of Amba. Now we’re left with the two other daughters, Ambika and Ambalika isn’t it? Now let us witness what happened to these two daughters. As planned, Bhishmaachaarya continued his journey towards Hastinapura with these two girls and a grand marriage ceremony was arranged for King Vichitraveerya. Thus, Ambika and Ambalika became wives of King Vichitraveerya, courtesy Bhishmaachaarya. After their marriage was over, King Vichitraveerya and his wives were childless for many years and eventually one fine day King Vichitraveerya passed away. Just like King Shantanu, Vichitraveerya too passed away at a very early age. This rendered the kingdom without any successor, yet again! Of course, when Shantanu died, Vichitraveerya was already born and he was a child. Still, he was crowned as King Shantanu’s successor. However, now the case is even worse – King Vichitraveerya died without a child. Now who will rule the kingdom after King Vichitraveerya? There should be someone to take the kingdom forward, isn’t it?
This is where Satyavati remembers her first son, Sage Veda Vyaasa. Readers might remember that Sage Veda Vyaasa was born to Satyavati before she got married to King Shantanu. Sage Paraashara had once met her in a boat, and with their union, Sage Veda-Vyaasa was born. However, after he was born, Sage Paraashara blessed Satyavati with her virginity and left her. Sage Veda-Vyaasa too left her, but he had given an assurance that if she requires any help from him at any stage in her life, she can approach him. Now it was a critical time and Satyavati immediately remembers her son, Sage Veda-Vyaasa. Satyavati knew that Sage Veda-Vyaasa was a great sage and it would be with his divine “Anugraha” that there would be children born in this family. With this in mind, Satyavati called out for Sage Vyaasa and as per the promise, Sage Vyaasa immediately appeared in front of his mother. As Sage Vyaasa arrived, Satyavati explains the situation to him thus, “Oh son! I know you are a great sage by birth. Please understand my tough situation here – My son Vichitraveerya passed away at a very early age, just like King Shantanu. Now there is nobody to rule the kingdom and take it forward. I request your divine intervention to produce children to take the kingdom forward!”
As Sage Vyaasa hears thus, he replies to his mother, “Oh Mother Satyavati! I understand your situation completely. However, your daughter-in-laws might not be ready to accept me for a union. I’m looking so shabby and with a bad smell. It has been so many years since I even took a shower, as I’m a sage and I’m not into worldly activities. Moreover, I’m a Brahmana Rishi and these girls are Kshatriya princesses. How would they even think of me? Even if they would like to accept me, let them perform penance for atleast one year and after this, I would re-appear to bless them with children!” As Sage Veda-Vyaasa explains thus, Satyavati was not very satisfied. She replied thus, “Oh son! I don’t think we have that much time now. One year is way too long and a kingdom cannot be without a king for such a long time. You should do something immediately. Moreover, I don’t think Ambika and Ambaalika are made for performing penance like how you do. They are incapable of all this. Hence, you should offer your help immediately, rather than waiting for one long year for things to happen!”
Hearing thus from Mother Satyavati, Sage Veda-Vyaasa accepted her request. He replies thus, “Oh Mother! Fine! Bring both of them to me tonight. However there is one condition – Your daughters should not get scared or uneasy upon seeing me. I would not change myself for them. I would be with the same physical body of mine, with the bad smell and without a shower. If they’re fine with it, they can come closer to me tonight!” Accordingly, Satyavati takes both Ambika and Ambaalika to Sage Veda-Vyaasa that night. We’re now at a crucial juncture here. Now what is going to happen next? Are Ambika and Ambaalika going to oblige to Sage Veda-Vyaasa’s conditions and go forward? Let us wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 