Ved Vyasa: The Vicky Donor of the Vedic Era
Journeys down the mythological rabbit hole — Part II
पराशरात्मजॊ विद्वान बरह्मर्षिः संशितव्रतः
मातुर नियॊगाद धर्मात्मा गाङ्गेयस्य च धीमतः
कषेत्रे विचित्रवीर्यस्य कृष्णद्वैपायनः पुरा
तरीन अग्नीन इव कौरव्याञ जनयाम आस वीर्यवान
उत्पाद्य धृतराष्ट्रं च पाण्डुं विदुरम एव च
— Adi Parva, Mahabharata**
The verse above summarizes what’s written ahead. However, unless you are some Sanskrit scholar, I would urge you to read on for the intriguing story which lays the ‘seed’ for the better-known Kurukshetra war.
It is the story of the birth of Dhritrashtra, father of the Kauravas, and Pandu, father of the Pandavas, and the role of their biological father Ved Vyasa.
Yes. The same guy who most of us know as merely the author of this epic.
Brace for complex names and relationships
Let’s start with someone we all know well — Devvrat a.k.a Bhishma Pitamah.
Bhishma was the son of the Goddess Ganga and Hastinapur’s king Shantanu.
Shantanu later took another wife Satyavati on her father’s condition that their sons would take the throne and not Bhishma. Bhishma, being the adarsh balak, more than endorsed this union for his father’s happiness.
Satyavati bore Shantanu two sons — Vichitravairya and Chitrangada. There is a reason not many people know them well.
Chitrangada died right after his coronation, killed by a namesake celestial being. Vichitravairya took the throne and got two wives Ambika and Ambalika. Fun fact — it was Bhishma who kidnapped both these maidens from their swayamvar for his young stepbrother. 🙄
As fate would have it, poor ol’ Vichi died before fathering a child. And now, there was no heir to the throne of Hastinapur.
Bhishma would have nothing to do with it, thanks to his vow of celibacy.
At this moment, Satyavati remembers her son born from an “encounter” with Rishi Parashara. And hereby, Ved Vyasa wove himself into the narrative as the aforementioned son and saviour of the Kuru clan.
Time for a lot of awkwardness
In an earlier story, Vyasa had promised Satyavati that he will come to her aid in times of need. And now Satyavati really needed him to impregnate her daughters-in-law for the sake of the kingdom, and dharma, of course.
It might be a good time to note that this practice of intercourse sans pleasure, merely to impregnate, is called Niyoga and is documented even in the Manusmriti as an ‘acceptable’ practice. Of course, why would Vyasa project himself as immoral or on the wrong side of law?
Up first was Ambika. Primarily due to Vyasa’s unkempt appearance, and likely also owing to the whole situation, Ambika tightly shut her eyes during the act. Vyasa opined that the offspring of this union would be blind because logic.
Visual impairment isn’t exactly what you want in a king. So, Satyavati sent Ambalika next. Upon seeing Vyasa’s face, and again — why does every text keep missing this point — due to the hideousness of the circumstance, she shook in fear as Vyasa went about his job. “This child would thus be frail”, said Vyasa.
So, Satyavati asked Ambika to give it another shot.
This guts with this woman Satyavati. Wow.
Ambika was definitely not up for it (again) so she sent a lowly maid instead. How a learned Vyasa wasn’t able to figure this or, if he did, why he indulged regardless, are questions that are best not asked.
It might suffice for one to know that the maid was highly respectful of this learned and very virile sage. And thus bore a perfectly healthy son.
Out of these three close encounters of the strange kind were born Dhritrashtra the blind, Pandu the pale, and Vidur the wise.
Clicking on the Niyoga wiki link above would tell you that the involved agent just does his duty and is not credited as ‘the father’. Hence, for the record, the three were sons of Vichitravairya.
If you found this story fascinating, might I interest you in the rather cringe-worthy depiction of this event in the otherwise spectacular Mahabharat by BR Chopra, where Lagaan & Swades fame Rajesh Vivek (s)lays it as Vyasa.
Epilogue
Curiously, Vyasa makes another critical appearance in the Mahabharata when he fragments the mound of flesh delivered by Gandhari, wife of Dhritrashtra, into a hundred-and-one pieces, thus giving birth to the Kauravas and their sister Dushala.
One might say that Vyasa, the artful storyteller, modeled his own character as a veritable deus ex machina appearing in order to propel the narrative forward at critical junctures. Well, all’s fair if the outcome is this legendary tale of love, lust, hatred, cunning, and righteousness. Major props to Rishi Vyasa.
Another bit of trivia. Krishna Dwaipayana a.k.a Ved Vyasa (hence titled since he classified the Vedas) only dictated 8,800 couplets to Ganesha who meticulously penned them down to create what is called ‘Jaya’. This original text was expanded to 100,000 verses by the transcriptions of his disciples Vaishampayana and Ugrasrava Sauti over a couple of centuries.
How did his disciples’ lifespans stretch over a couple of centuries, you may ask. Let it be known that Vyasa is one of eight Chiranjeevis or immortals, as per Hindu scriptures who will live out the entire cycle till Kaliyuga. Ergo.
And fin.
References: ** Internet Sacred Text Archive (ISTA): digitized Sanskrit version and Kisari Mohan Ganguli’s epic English translation (circa 1890)
Others in this Mythology Series
Part I: The Story behind the OG Chyawanprash
