Shantanu

Shantanu (Sanskrit: शंतनु) was a Kuru king of Hastinapura, who is mentioned in the great epic of the Mahābhārata. He was a descendant of the Bharata race, of the lunar dynasty and the ancestor of the Pandavas and the Kauravas. The Rigveda (X.98.11) mentions Shantanu.^[1] He was the youngest son of King Pratipa of Hastinapura and had been born in the latter's old age. The eldest son Devapi suffered from leprosy and abdicated his inheritance to become a hermit. The middle son Balhika devoted his life to conquer Balkh. Shantanu become the king of Hastinapura by default.

Shantanu and Ganga

Shantanu saw a beautiful woman on the banks of the river Ganges (Ganga) and asked her to marry him. She agreed but with one condition: that Shantanu would not ask any questions about her actions. They married and she later gave birth. But she drowned the child. Shantanu couldn't ask why because of his promise not to ask else she would leave. One by one, seven children were drowned. Shantanu, devastated, could not restrain himself and asked her why she was killing the children when she was about to drown the eighth child. She explained that she was in fact the goddess Ganga, and that the infants she had drowned were demi-gods who had been cursed into being born as humans. She had been freeing them from their curse. Since Ganga revealed the truth to Shantanu, she could not free the last demi-god. So she left the baby in Shantanu's care and went back to the river. The baby was named Devavrata, and eventually came to be known as the mighty warrior Bhishma.

Shantanu and Satyavati

When Shantanu's son Bhishma had grown into a young prince, Shantanu came across Satyavati, an adopted daughter of a ferryman on the Yamuna river), and fell in love with her. The ferryman agreed to the marriage on condition that any child Satyavati bore the king would inherit the throne.

King Shantanu was unable to give his word on accession as his eldest son Bhishma was the heir to the throne. However, Bhishma came to know of this and for the sake of his father, gave his word to the ferryman that he would renounce all claims to the throne, in favour of Satyavati's children. To reassure the skeptical ferryman further, he also vowed life-long celibacy to ensure that future generations borne of Satyavati would also not be challenged by his offspring.

Shantanu and Satyavati went on to have two sons, Chitrāngada and Vichitravirya. After Shantanu's death, Satyavati continued to rule the kingdom with her two sons, with help from Bhishma.

References

Vettam Mani: Puranic Encyclopaedia.

Notes