Reading Notes: Tiny Tales from the Mahabharata Part A

 Thy tiny tails begin rather quickly once Vyasa seeks a scribe, which was Ganesha. Ganesha wrote down everything he could comprehend from Vyasa, evening when his pen broke. In order to write he broke off one of his elephant tusks in order to write. Then the whole story turns around beginning with King Shantanu. He has a son with Ganga who kills their first seven children until it comes to Devavrata, which King Shantanu names his heir to the throne after Ganga leaves him. 

King Shantanu marries again, a woman named Satyavati, who was conceived inside of a fish. Together Shantanu and Satyavati bare two sons, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. In order for this his first son Devavrata to promise never to marry or bare any sons. Because of this his new name was Bhishma and was granted eternal life. 

Chitrangada eventually dies in battle but Vichitravirya is much too young to find a wife or have sons with her. Bhishma takes this into his own hands and brings back Amba, Ambika, and Ambalika. Vichitravirya dies before he able to have any children with his three wives. So, Satyavati must summon her son Vyasa who was living as a forest rishi to marry Ambika and Ambalika. When he comes, his two full sons are Dhritarashtra who is blind, and Pandu who is pale. Pandu must be king because there cannot be a blind king. He also has a third son named Vidura who was wise, but it was with the maid, so he could not be king. Vidura was an avatar of Yama who was cursed to be born but not allowed to rule. 

Dhritarashtra becomes king after Pandu is cursed to die if he were to ever touch another woman again. Pandu realizing he could never bare a male heir to the thrown leaves the kingdom for Dhritarashtra to rule.

Vyasa the rishi, the first author of the Mahabharata. Wikimedia

Tiny Tales from the Mahabharata by Laura Gibbs