Veranda Tales-A legendary rustler
Storytelling has been an integral part of my life since childhood. I grew up listening to stories during the hot summer evenings and nights with my cousins. Mothers and grandmothers would gather all of us children for story time. It was usually pitch dark except for a very faint light coming from the flickering candle. Power cuts were as frequent as the hot and humid summer days. We all spread out on a cool concrete floor or bamboo mats on the veranda intently listening to fascinating stories about kings, queens, princes, princesses, and peasants alike. Stories about love, life, families, and people entertained and taught us life skills. These stories transported us to distant worlds, strange yet familiar. Often the same story told by two people sounded different as storytellers added new twists and turns adding their personal style and flair to the stories.
Storytelling wasn’t limited to summer evenings and bedtime. I was surrounded by adults who didn’t pass up an opportunity to share their wisdom using the art of storytelling. These rich vibrant oral traditions include songs, poems, stories, and సామెతలు (Sametalu are proverbs in Telugu). Men and women sing songs as they work in the fields, grinding grains and spices and doing other daily chores at their homes. Stories are often used to teach important life lessons, interpersonal skills, and survival skills. These stories and the time spent listening to them made our lives richer leaving an impression on me. This series is all about reliving those memories as I share these stories.
భీష్మ ప్రతిజ్ఞ (Bhīṣma Prathigna)
శంతను (Shantanu), the king of Kuru kingdom saw a beautiful woman on the banks of the River గంగ (Ganga) during a hunting expedition. He immediately fell in love with her and asked her to marry him. She agreed to marry him on one condition that she be given complete freedom in living her life and making decisions. If he ever questioned her decision, she would leave him. శంతను (Shantanu) agreed to her condition and took her as his wife. The king and the new queen settled into their happy marital life in their palace in హస్తినాపుర్ (Hastinapur), the capital of the Kuru kingdom kingdom.
శంతను (Shantanu) was very happy when the queen got pregnant. He was hoping to hold his newborn who would be an heir to his throne. The queen gave birth to a son, immediately carried her newborn to the River గంగ (Ganga) and drowned him as శంతను (Shantanu) watched in dismay. The same thing repeated six more times when the queen gave birth to their six sons and శంతను (Shantanu) watched silently as he was bound by his word. When their eighth son was born, శంతను (Shantanu) could no longer stand and watch. As the queen was about to throw their eighth son in the river, he pleaded with her to stop and asked her to explain her actions.
The queen revealed that she was the river goddess గంగ (Ganga). She told him that the Ashtavasu, eight deities associated with fire and light, stole a cow from the Vashishta maharshi (sage). Prabhāsa, one of the Ashtavasu instigated and the other seven helped him with the theft. When they were caught, Vashishta maharshi cursed all eight of them to be born as humans and live miserable lives on earth. They pleaded for mercy and forgiveness. He took pity on them and told them the seven who went along with Prabhāsa’s plan would be liberated after birth. Prabhāsa would have to serve out his sentence.
The Ashtavasu requested గంగ (Ganga) to be the one to give birth to them and kill them as soon as they were born to free them from the curse. శంతను (Shantanu) regretted breaking his vow to his wife. He pleaded with గంగ (Ganga) to forgive him and stay with him. గంగ (Ganga) refused and promised to raise their eighth son, who was an incarnation of Prabhāsa and bring him back to his father once he was of age. She named him దేవవ్రత (Devavrata) and raised him in various realms. He was trained by several sages. When he was of age, she brought him back to శంతను (Shantanu). దేవవ్రత (Devavrata) was also known as గంగపుత్ర (Gangaputra), son of గంగ (Ganga).
శంతను (Shantanu) adored దేవవ్రత (Devavrata) and so did the people of the Kuru kingdom. దేవవ్రత (Devavrata) traveled to various places in the kingdom to meet people and listen to their concerns. The people loved his kind and caring nature. His divine origin was an icing on the cake. దేవవ్రత (Devavrata) was next in line to become the king.
శంతను (Shantanu) met a woman when he was traveling through a forest. She was a beautiful fisherwoman named సత్యవతి (Satyavati). She ran the boats crossing the Yamuna and helped the king cross the river on her boat. He fell in love with her. He went to meet సత్యవతి (Satyavati)’s father and asked for permission to marry సత్యవతి (Satyavati). Her father asked శంతను (Shantanu) about the status of his future grandchildren since దేవవ్రత (Devavrata) was the heir to the throne. He asked the king to promise that his daughter’s children would be heirs to the throne instead of దేవవ్రత (Devavrata). శంతను (Shantanu) refused to make that promise at the expense of his son and heir to the throne, దేవవ్రత (Devavrata). He went back to his palace and fell into a deep depression. దేవవ్రత (Devavrata) learned about why his father was depressed. He said he would renounce his claim to the throne and asked his father to marry సత్యవతి (Satyavati). శంతను (Shantanu) refused his son’s offer as he thought it was unjust to deny his son’s right to the throne for his own happiness.
దేవవ్రత (Devavrata) took it upon himself to solve the problem. He met Satyavati's father and made the offer of renouncing the throne. The offer didn’t satisfy Satyavati's father as he was concerned about దేవవ్రత (Devavrata)’s future children refusing to honor his renouncing the throne. He demanded దేవవ్రత (Devavrata) to swear an oath to a lifelong బ్రహ్మచర్య (Brahmacharya - celibacy) as a guarantee to secure the throne for his daughter’s children. దేవవ్రత (Devavrata) agreed to be celibate for the rest of his life. The celestials showered him with flowers and he came to be known as భీష్మ (Bhīṣma) from that moment because of the sacrifice and severe vow of denying himself the joys of marital life. With her father’s blessing, భీష్మ (Bhīṣma) took Satyavati to హస్తినాపుర్ (Hastinapur). శంతను (Shantanu) was shocked to learn about his son’s vows. He bestowed a gift of స్వేఛ్చమృత్యు (Svecchāmṛtyu), freedom to choose the time and manner of death on his son.శంతను (Shantanu) married సత్యవతి (Satyavati) and she gave birth to two sons, చిత్రాంగద (Chitrangada) and విచిత్రవీర్య (Vichitravirya).
After his father passed away, Ugrayudha Paurava, a statesman of Panchala kingdom tried to buy సత్యవతి (Satyavati) with his wealth. భీష్మ (Bhīṣma) killed Ugrayudha Paurava to save సత్యవతి (Satyavati)’s honor and became an advisor to his stepmother helping her raise his two step brothers, చిత్రాంగద (Chitrangada) and విచిత్రవీర్య (Vichitravirya). చిత్రాంగద (Chitrangada) died young leaving a grieving mother as భీష్మ (Bhīṣma) steppedn into perform his funeral rites. భీష్మ (Bhīṣma) crowned young విచిత్రవీర్య (Vichitravirya) as the king while he helped his stepmother keep control over the kingdom.
When it was time for విచిత్రవీర్య (Vichitravirya) to assume royal duties, భీష్మ (Bhīṣma) took on the responsibility to find a queen for his step brother. He represented his step brother at Swayamvara of the three princesses of the Kashi kingdom, అంబ (Amba), అంబిక (Ambika), and అంబాలిక (Ambalika). He defeated all other suitors including శల్య (Shalva), the king of the Shalva kingdom. Swayamvara is a ceremony where a princess chooses her husband from a group of suitors. అంబ (Amba) refused to accept విచిత్రవీర్య (Vichitravirya) as her husband since she was in love with శల్య (Shalva), the king of the Shalva kingdom whom భీష్మ (Bhīṣma) defeated. భీష్మ (Bhīṣma) honored అంబ (Amba)’s choice and sent her to శల్య (Shalva). When అంబ (Amba) reached the Shalva kingdom, శల్య (Shalva) refused to accept her since she had been won by భీష్మ (Bhīṣma). Dejected అంబ (Amba) went back to భీష్మ (Bhīṣma). విచిత్రవీర్య (Vichitravirya) refused to marry her since she was in love with another man. అంబ (Amba) had no choice but to ask భీష్మ (Bhīṣma) to restore her honor by marrying her. భీష్మ (Bhīṣma) had to choose between his vow and doing his duty of restoring the honor of the woman he won and was responsible for.
అంబ (Amba) appealed to neighboring kings and sages to convince భీష్మ (Bhīṣma) to do the right thing by marrying her. His teacher, Parashurama ordered భీష్మ (Bhīṣma) to marry అంబ (Amba) threatening to kill him if he didn’t. భీష్మ (Bhīṣma) refused and they fought a fierce battle in which there we no clear winner. భీష్మ (Bhīṣma) stuck to his ప్రతిజ్ఞ (Prathigna) of lifelong బ్రహ్మచర్య (Brahmacharya - celibacy). అంబ (Amba) was left with no options. She took her own life after securing a boon from Shiva to play a part in the death of భీష్మ (Bhīṣma).
విచిత్రవీర్య (Vichitravirya) married అంబిక (Ambika), and అంబాలిక (Ambalika). Seven years later, he came down with Yakshma (Tuberculosis in Sankrit) and died childless soon after. భీష్మ (Bhīṣma) and సత్యవతి (Satyavati) were anxious and concerned about the fate of the kingdom without heirs. సత్యవతి (Satyavati) tried to persuade భీష్మ (Bhīṣma) to marry the two widows and take the crown or at least produce heirs by performing Niyoga. భీష్మ (Bhīṣma) refused citing his vow and suggested to ask a sage to perform Niyoga instead. Niyoga is an ancient Hindu practice in which another person is requested to impregnate a woman, whose husband is deceased or impotent to continue the family lineage. In these cases, the husband was considered father of the children. This practice is similar to the modern day practice of In vitro fertilisation (IVF) using a sperm bank. సత్యవతి (Satyavati) reached out to her son, Vyasa who was born before her marriage to శంతను (Shantanu). Vyasa agreed to perform Niyoga to save the kingdom.
అంబిక (Ambika) gave birth to Dhritarashtra who was born blind and అంబాలిక (Ambalika) gave birth to Pandu who was pale and sickly. సత్యవతి (Satyavati) was unhappy with these results and asked for another child. అంబిక (Ambika) and అంబాలిక (Ambalika) sent their maid, Parishrami in their stead. The third child, named Vidura was perfect with no defects, however he was ineligible to ascend the throne because his mother was a maid. The Kuru dynasty technically ended due to the భీష్మ ప్రతిజ్ఞ (Bhīṣma Prathigna) since these three children weren’t the true descendants of శంతను (Shantanu). Dhritarashtra’s 100 children were called కౌరవులు (Kauravas). Pandu’s five foster children came to be known as పాండవులు (Pandava).
భీష్మ (Bhīṣma) took the responsibility of training his nephews and their offsprings పాండవులు (Pandava) and కౌరవులు (Kauravas) as the elder of the family. His nephews and their offsprings revered him and called him పితామహః (Pitamaha), father the great. కౌరవులు (Kauravas) tried to take control of the kingdom from the rightful heirs పాండవులు (Pandava) using illegal means. This resulted in an epic battle at the కురుక్షేత్ర (Kurukshetra). భీష్మ (Bhīṣma) faulght on the side of కౌరవులు (Kauravas) even though he believed that పాండవులు (Pandava) were on the right side of the battle. Because of his boon of స్వేఛ్చమృత్యు (Svecchāmṛtyu), nobody could kill him in the battle unless he chose to die. భీష్మ (Bhīṣma) palnned his end telling పాండవులు (Pandava) about how he would lay his arms down if he faced a man who was once a woman. అంబ (Amba) reincarnated as a woman named శిఖండిని (Shikhandini), was the secret to his death. శిఖండిని (Shikhandini) transitioned to take a male form, శిఖండి (Shikhandi). When he came face to face with శిఖండి (Shikhandi), భీష్మ (Bhīṣma) laid down his arms. అర్జున (Arjuna), the third brother of the five పాండవులు (Pandava) brothers shot భీష్మ (Bhīṣma) with several arrows. భీష్మ (Bhīṣma) fell to the ground on a bed of arrows. In the male form, అంబ (Amba) finally got her revenge. భీష్మ (Bhīṣma) chose to stay alive until the end of the war. He imparted his wisdom one final time to Yudhishthira, the eldest of the పాండవులు (Pandava), who was about to take the throne.
Since he took his first breath as the 8th son of the goddess, గంగ (Ganga), and the king of Kuru kingdom, శంతను (Shantanu), భీష్మ (Bhīṣma)’s life was shaped by broken vow between his father and mother and his own severe ప్రతిజ్ఞ (Prathigna) of lifelong బ్రహ్మచర్య (Brahmacharya - celibacy). భీష్మ (Bhīṣma) became an important figure in the Indian epic, మహాభారత (Mahabharata). His decisions and vows influenced and shaped lives of his nephews and their descendants and ultimately lead to the epic battle at the కురుక్షేత్ర (Kurukshetra).
Prabhāsa started a chain of events when he stole a cow that lead to the final battle in the epic మహాభారత (Mahabharata). భీష్మ (Bhīṣma)’s struggle to choose between his vow and his duty to restoring అంబ (Amba)’s honor was the pivotal decision in his life in many ways. He chose his ప్రతిజ్ఞ (Prathigna) time and again and paid the price in the end. భీష్మ (Bhīṣma) was a complex man who was better known for his dedication to his ప్రతిజ్ఞ (Prathigna) than his act of a rustler stealing a cow that led to it all.
