There once was a boy and a girl who were the children of king Uparichara and a fish. She was beautiful. When the king found out about the children, he took the son to live with him and left the daughter in the hands of a fisherman. The girl was named Satyavati and she grew up to be beautiful and had a son named Dwaipayana.
In another part of the country, King Shantanu and the goddess of the Ganges river, Ganga, meet and fall in love. However, there is a deal that if the king ever raises his voice to her, she will leave. They get married and whenever she gives birth to a child, she drowns him or her into the river. After the seventh time, the king can’t control his anger anymore. He yells at her and she explains that she did it so they could go be in a better place. With these words, she leaves. Later, she returns with a son. The king names the prince Devavrata.
Satyavati and Shantanu meet by the river one day and the king wants to marry her. Devavrata gives up his heir to the throne so his father can marry Satyavati. They have two sons. Bhishma, Satyavati’s eldest son, goes to seek out a bride for one of the sons. Bhishma rejects the oldest daughter of the king of Benares, so she plots with Shiva, the Great God to defeat Bhishma.
Years pass and a woman named Kunti who had a son that she gave away in a basket in the river Aswa where a woman named Anga found the child. The child, Karna grew up to be a powerful youth.
It was foretold that Pandu would die at the hands of one of his wives. One day when he met his favorite wife, he died as soon as he touched her hands. Madri, Pandu’s favorite wife was decided to die with her husband in the pyre. King Pandu’s brother had a son, Duryodhana who grew up to be proud and evil.
Duryodhana put poison in Bhima’s food and threw him in the river but Bhima was able to regain consciousness. Bhima ended up in the underworld snake kingdom. Drona was denied in the palace so he left to train the Pandavas, and Duryodhana was jealous of them, especially Arjuna.
The Pandavas and Kauravas decide to battle each other. Drona gained his revenge and took possession of half the kingdom.
Bibliography: Public Domain Edition: Mahabharata
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