In this episode, we’re continuing the story of the Mahabharat!
Here’s the story so far.
King Shantanu of Hastinapur and the River Goddess Ganga, had married and had children. Shantanu was not very happy though, because after drowning his 7 children, Ganga had taken the eighth one away from him!
She’d promised to return, but neglected to say when. And that left Shantanu waiting for years.
While Shantanu was waiting for his baby to be returned, he adopted twin babies, Kripa and Kripi, who were found abandoned in the forest.
Finally, after years of waiting, Shantanu spotted something unusual happening with the Ganga. He saw a young boy who appeared to be responsible for this. If so, the boy needed to be in the Guinness Book of World Records for the fastest construction of a dam.
We’ll continue the story right here.
Shantanu approached the youth standing by the bank of the mighty River Ganga. Well right at that moment, it certainly wasn’t mighty. And technically it wasn’t a river anymore. Because the entire river was dammed off by a wall of arrows!
Shantanu stared at the oddly familiar face of the youth.
“Did you do this?” he asked.
“Yes sir!” said the boy, without even an attempt to hide his pride.
“Single-handedly?” asked Shantanu surprised
“Well, technically not. I mean I had to use both my hands. Have you ever tried using a bow with just one hand? I supposed I could try with my mouth”
The boy deftly pulled an arrow out of his quiver with his mouth and positioned it quickly on his bow.
“Wait, wait!” said Shantanu, but the boy had already shot his arrow. He hit the wall of arrows which collapsed releasing the river.
“That I did single-handedly,” said the boy. “Who are you anyway? I’m not supposed to talk to strangers!”
“I should ask you that question. I’m the emperor of this land. And do you have a permit to build a dam here?”
“Of course I do!” replied the boy
“May I see the paperwork?” asked Shantanu
“I don’t have any. But I have permission from the River itself. Here she is, you can ask her yourself”
Shantanu whirled around and saw that Ganga was walking towards them. She had on the same smile when she first accepted his proposal, and it was the same smile as when she had drowned their first 7 children.
Shantanu was surprised. Ganga hadn’t aged a day which, in retrospect he should have expected from a Goddess. On the other hand Shantanu had aged incredibly.
It was going to be a very brief meeting. No pleasantries, no hugs or “you look just like I remember you”.
Ganga simply said: “I can’t stay long. I’m just here to deliver the boy. Shantanu, meet your son. His name is Devvrat. And Devvarat meet your father”
Not quite as dramatic as the Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker introduction in Star Wars.
Shantanu had stewed in resentment over not being able to do typical father-son stuff like teaching him the rules of cricket, or riding a bike, or take him hunting.
Ganga appeared to have forgotten her next lines, so she brought out a fully checked off to-do list. She continued “His education is complete! He’s studied the Vedas from Sage Vashishta, the same one who fought Vishwamitra from the Ramayana Episode 15 – Rishi vs Rishi Un-civil war.
He’s skilled in all the weapons. In battle, he’s like Indra himself. He knows all the weapons that Ram from the Ramayana knew. What’s more he knows all of the royal duties. He’s in fact even contributed to the latest edition of the Emperor’s handbook. What more could you ask for?”
Now I must go. You know how to get in touch with me.”
“Do I?” asked Shantanu.
“I didn’t mean you” said Ganga, coldly. “Devvrat, let me know if you need anything. I’m going to miss you lots!” she gave her son a warm hug. “Remember what I told you earlier. It’s all upto you now”
Ganga soon disappeared, and Shantanu could finally have a heart to heart with his son.
He didn’t know where to begin. This was awkward. Maybe he could start with some ice-breaker questions. Shantanu’s HR minister was always insisting on starting every meeting with ice-breakers. “So, Devvrat, – which one do you like more watching Cricket or playing Cricket?”
“You mean those insects? You know even though I’ve heard them chirping in the evenings, I’ve never actually seen one. And how do you play them?”
Shantanu was horrified. What kind of a childhood did this poor kid have? He said “We must correct this error ASAP. Let’s go to the palace now. I’ll radio ahead to have the pitch ready”
They went back to the palace, where Shantanu himself oversaw the boy’s education of the game. Once Shantanu had verified that his boy was indeed as skilful as he had hoped, he declared the boy his heir. The other ministers, the court, and the entire public were happy at the news. Despite Devvrat being a complete stranger, public opinion was almost a conviction that any functioning adult would be qualified to rule this empire better than the incumbent who had spent years staring at a river.
Over time, Devvrat justified their trust – during court proceedings, during minor skirmishes at the border, and in the Sports arena. Cricket aside, people realized they had never seen as skillful a marksman. He also seemed to have an incredibly diverse array of weapons.
Shantanu was certainly happier than ever before. He no longer spent all his time staring at the River. He could finally return to doing what he thought he was born to do – hunting. If you thought “administrative duties”, he had simply delegated a lot to Devvrat now.
On one particular hunting trip, Shantanu was by the banks of the Yamuna, the other great River in India. While chasing a deer he suddenly stopped. He smelled something. A fragrance. He’d never smelled anything like it before. Probably a new line of designer perfume. He investigated. After playing a bit of warm and cold, he finally found the source. It was a woman who was sitting by the riverbank, next to a boat. She was beautiful no doubt. As soon as he saw her he was reminded of his father’s dying words. His father had told him of a beautiful girl by the riverbank whom he should accept without question.
To be sure he thought his father had said the river was the Ganga, and this was the Yamuna, but maybe he was misremembering. Besides when he thought his father had meant the Ganga, look at the tragedy it had led to. Sure, he had his son now, but at what price? Seven children drowned, a painful separation from Ganga, and years away from his son.
No, his father must have meant this lady. Observing this happening down on Earth, Shantanu’s father facepalmed himself.
That’s all I have for today
Other Mahabharat Episodes
If you want to hear previous Mahabharat episodes, here they are:
Episode 59 – River of Dreams
Episode 60 – Down By The River
Episode 68 – Waiting
Check out other Mahabharat Episodes too, some of which are peripherally linked to the main storyline.
Next Time
In the next episode, we’ll continue the story, where we’ll see how Emperor Shantanu did not actually learn his lesson about pre-nuptial conditions. I know I’d planned to get to that part of the story in today’s episode, but it would have been too lengthy so I split this up.