The Mahabharata
is an epic take that takes place in ancient India. In the beginning of
the story we are introduced to the characters Santanu and Ganga. Santanu is the King of Hastinapura, and one day he takes a walk by a river, and sees Ganga who is enchanting. King Santanu
quickly asks Ganga for her hand in marriage, but Ganga tells him that she will
only do so if certain conditions are met.
Ganga tells King Santanu the only way she will marry him, is if he
promises not to question her actions.
Upon agreeing to this, Ganga and Sanantu marry and move into the palace. Years pass and Ganga bears children, all
boys. Each time Ganga delivers a child, she takes the child to the river where her and Santanu met and she drowns them. Over a period of time, Ganga drowned seven of
their sons. When she became pregnant
again, she delivered the child and took him to the river. Not understanding his wife’s actions, Santanu
questioned Ganga. Ganga told Santanu that
she is the river goddess, and each child she bore was cursed to live a
life in human form; because of this, she ended their punishment. Since Santanu questioned
Ganga's actions before drowning their eight child Devarata, Devarata will live and Ganga will spend her lasting days at the river.
In later
chapters, King Santanu marries again and promises the throne to his second wife's children. Obeying his father's wishes, Devarata does not challenge his father nor his stepmother Satyavathi. Devarata receives the name Bhishma due to him vowing not to marry and
have any children in respect towards his father's wishes, and is then blessed by the God's for taking and upholding his vow. When Bhishma's half brother
dies, his stepmother calls upon her first son Vyasa who is a poet, to bear children that will
take Santanu’s place on the throne. When
Vyasa fathers children with the princesses that Bhishma finds him, he places
curses on the children based on their mother’s behaviors during their interaction.
Bibliography: The Mahabharata written by R.K. Narayan (1978)
Hi again Dijoun! I just finished reading your story and it was very interesting. I thought how you started off the story was very good. Throughout the story you provided adequate details to make the story very unique. I like how much dialogue you put in the story for me to paint a picture in my head to understand the story. Great job!
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