1 Beginning

Mahabharata, an epic poem of ancient India. The story of Mahabharata starts with the oath of Bheeshma, one of the strongest warriors in history.

It was the time when Shantanu, the descendent of the Bharata race of that Lunar Dynasty, used to rule the Kuru Kingdom with Hastinapur as its capital.

He fell in love with Goddess Ganga and married her without knowing her identity and with a condition that he wouldn't object to her actions.

To his surprise, in front of him, Goddess Ganga killed their firstborn son and then followed by the second born and so on, as soon as they were born.

Still, he adhered to his promise and barely managed to hold on until seven sons died just like that way.

But, when the eighth-son also was going to end up the same, King Shantanu wasn't able to bear it and confronted her.

As he broke his promise, Goddess Ganga revealed her identity and told him about the curse of Sage Vashista.

After explaining everything, she took her eighth son back with her to heaven while promising the King that his son will return to him eventually after teaching him the knowledge of Holy Scriptures and the art of warfare.

Meanwhile, King Shantanu, who was devastated by the loss of his wife and son, decided not to marry again and just began to focus on ruling his kingdom while waiting for his son to return.

28 years later, Goddess Ganga returned with their son, Devavrata, a disciple of Lord Parashurama, and handed over to King Shantanu while refusing to be the Queen of Hastinpur giving the reason that she was a Goddess who is immortal while the latter is a mortal who is fated to die eventually.

King Shantanu was surely disappointed with her decision but in the end, he could only accept in reluctance. Moreover, he wasn't alone anyway. Now, his son is there with him.

After crowing Devavrata as the heir to his Kingdom, King Shantanu began to enjoy his life to full since, for a King, nothing gives more relief than having an Heir, who will take his place and look after his people, even after his death.

A few years later, King Shantanu once again fell in love with a woman named Satyavati while he was leisurely traveling on the banks of the Yamuna river.

Satyavati was the daughter of a chief of fishermen.

When asked hand in marriage, her father refused at first as his daughter is a young girl while the king is even older than him. But, the fisherman couldn't also see his daughter in sadness.

After thinking for a while, he placed a condition for this alliance to proceed. He wanted the children and later, the descendants of Satyavati and King Shantanu to rule the kingdom.

But, as Devavratha was already crowned as an Heir, King Shantanu couldn't adhere to his demands and returned to the capital in disappointment.

Several days went by. King Shantanu never visited Satyavati again. However, every day, he would be dispirited. It was evident for not only his son but also the other court officials.

Devavratha enquires the matter and finds about Satyavati but didn't know about the demand until he meets the fisherman, to which the latter said, "Prince, We are fishermen. In the future, the difference in the status of birth might become a curse for my daughter's children. I fear that your descendants would be treated differently by everyone because of the presence of the Royal blood and Divine blood of a Goddess while my daughter's descendants will be treated as servants."

Hearing his response, Prince Devavratha took Ganges water in his hand from a utensil and took an oath, "If that's the case, then, I, Devavratha, son the Goddess Ganga and the King Shantanu, with fire, water, wind, earth, and sky as the witness, hereby takes an oath that I'll neither marry not produce an offspring of mine. As long as I live, I'll protect the throne of Hastinapur while only your Descendents will be allowed to sit on it after my father."

The sky began to rumble, the flow in the Yamuna River increased rapidly while the entire Hastinapur shook with an earthquake for a second, making Shantanu realize something had gone wrong.

When Ganga appeared before him and reported to him about it, he immediately made his way towards the banks of the Yamuna river, where Prince Devavratha is asking Satyavathi and her father to accept the marriage proposal and be the Queen of Hastinapur.

After hearing his noble act, an impressed King Shantanu used his lifelong worth of virtues and blessed him with a boon which enabled him to decide his death. It means it is in the hands of Devavratha of how he dies and when he dies. Hence then, Devavratha is known as Bheeshma.

Little did know that the new Queen of Hastinapur has a pre-marital son named Vyasa whom she had abandoned and kept the matter as a secret even from King Shantanu and her father.

Had Devavratha or Bheeshma known that beforehand, perhaps, the story of Mahabharata wouldn't have existed considering Ved Vyasa is the one that brought central characters Dhritarashtra, Pandu, and Vidura to the story later on.

But, this story isn't about Bheeshma or the life of his beloved nephews or grandnephews. They were just a part of the story.

This story tells about one character of the poem that is destined for greatness, although he is yet to be born. This one is destined to bring peace not only to the humans on earth but also to the gods in heaven too.

And it starts at the Kunti Kingdom, nearly six decades later;

Kunti, an unmarried princess of the Kunti Kingdom was standing before Sage Dhurvasa while he was leaving the Kingdom.

Looking at her, Sage Dhurvasa said, "child, even though you are a Princess, for the past few months, without any complaints, you served me with patience and devotion without feeling discomfort and basically lived a life of an ascetic.

I'm impressed with your actions and bless you with a mantra. With its help, you can invoke any god of your choice and he would bless you a child filled with their radiance. I must warn you though. You should never use it before marriage. Or else, the blessing would turn into a curse for you."

A few months passed away, Kunti forgot about his warning. Only, the boon was on her mind.

On an early morning, a 16-year-old Princess Kunti was bathing in a river with a few of her maids. Just as every day, she was staring at the rising sun. The princess was in a daze for a couple of moments as if she was lost in thoughts.

She mumbled to herself, "no matter how many times I see it, the rising Sun is the most beautiful thing in the world. When I get married in the future, I should have a son who is radiant just like Lord Surya."

It was then, something suddenly clicked in her head.

"Wait a second. Wasn't I given a mantra for that? But does that mantra given by Sage Dhurvasa really work? What if it doesn't work later? How about I test it, right now? If Lord Surya will really appear in front of me, right now, then, later, during my Swayamvara, I can put forth a condition to my soon husband that my first child should be blessed by Lord Surya."

A very curious princess began to chant the mantra to invoke the Sun God after she finished her bathing and sent all her maids away.

All of a sudden, a bright light appeared before her, almost blinding her eyes followed by the appearance of an extremely handsome god wearing a unique golden crown with a Sun shape on its back before her with a surprised expression on his face. Soon, it turned into that of a frown.

"Wow, it worked," As she screamed with happiness, Lord Surya immediately interrupted her as his expression changed to unpleasantness, and almost scolded her, "what did you just do, Princess? How can you use that mantra like this? Did you forget what is that mantra is for?"