The Story so far

We started with the birth of Veda Vyasa. Then the focus changed to Shanthanu who married Ganga and to the Birth of Devavrata. It is time to recall that Shathanu later married Sathyavathy, the mother of Veda Vyasa. We have also seen how Devavrata became Bhishma. Let us remember that the vow that earned Devavrata the name Bhishma was that he would never become king and would never marry, either.

The dynasty of Shanthanu is known by the name of three great kings, Bharatha , Puru and Kuru. The first was an illustrious emperor born to Dushyantha and Shakunthala. We shall get to their immortal story, which was retold by the great poet Kalidasa, later. The story of Puru is also well known, to be told later.

Shanthanu’s Sons

Sathyavathy gave birth to two sons, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. Soon, king Shanthanu passed away. Chitrangada, being the elder, inherited the kingdom .

He was a great warrior and was very conscious of his valour and skill in warfare.
Once he came across a Gandharva with the same name, Chitrangada, in battle. Gandharvas are celestial beings just below the rank of Gods with some of the divine powers. The two Chitrangadas were equally matched in strength and skill and the war was waged for weeks and months. Finally, after three years of relentless fight the Gandharva killed the king Chitrangada. He died before marriage.

Thus, the future of the Bharatha dynasty came to rest solely on Vichitravirya. When the time of his marriage came Bhishma was apprehensive of his getting a royal bride of good ranking. When he heard the news of wedding of the three daughters of the king of Kasi he himself drove a chariot there and forcefully carried away the three princesses, Amba, Ambika and Ambalika.

This was an accepted way of marriage for the warrior class. That was a way to demonstrate the power and it was a challenge to all others, including the father of brides to dare to face him.
There were many famous and powerful princes and kings who had gathered in Kasi with the hope of winning the hands of the beautiful princesses. Many of them took up the challenge and fought fiercely with Bhishma. But, none could match the great Bhishma in warfare.

Bhishma had no difficulty in returning to his palace with three brides for his step-brother. However, Amba, the eldest princess informed Bhishma on the way that she had already chosen Salva, the king of Sowbha and that he had accepted her as bride as well. So, she requested Bhishma to let her go which Bhishma did. Thus, Vichitravirya duly married the other two Kasi princesses.

After the marriage he got so involved with his young brides that he thought of nothing else. He spent day and night in their company. As a result, within the course of just two years he got inflicted with the terrible disease of tuberculosis. None of the doctors in the land or outside could save him and he died young , without begetting children.