A house
The House of Shantanu
Ganga, Satyavati, Devavrata, Vyasa, the widows of Vichitravirya. Every later quarrel is a grandchild of this house.
Shantanu marries Ganga and loses seven sons to the river. The eighth is Devavrata, later Bhishma. Shantanu then wants Satyavati. Her father wants her son to be king. Bhishma vows celibacy so that can happen.
Satyavati’s sons die childless. She calls Vyasa, her son by Parashara. Niyoga on Ambika, Ambalika, and a maid produces Dhritarashtra, Pandu, and Vidura. The Pandavas and Kauravas are this arrangement’s next page.
Vidura stays in this house in the graph: born of the maid, minister of Hastinapura, unused conscience. Parikshit and Janamejaya close the line the war almost ended.
Named figures in this house
- PratipaFather of Devapi, Bahlika, and Shantanu. Refuses Ganga, who was meant for his son.
- BahlikaShantanu’s elder brother. Old Kuru who fights at Kurukshetra.
- ShantanuKing who marries Ganga, then Satyavati. Father of Bhishma, Chitrangada, Vichitravirya.
- BhurishravasSomadatta’s son. Slain after Satyaki strikes him at Krishna’s urging — a famous adharma.
- DevavrataBhishma. Ganga’s son. The vow of celibacy that lets Satyavati’s line take the throne.
- SatyavatiFisher-girl become queen. Mother of Vyasa before marriage; of the two princes after.
- VyasaKrishna Dvaipayana. Author of the Bharata. By niyoga, father of Dhritarashtra, Pandu, and Vidura.
- ChitrangadaSatyavati’s elder son. Dies in a duel with a gandharva of the same name.
- VichitraviryaSatyavati’s younger son. Marries Ambika and Ambalika. Dies childless — hence the niyoga.
- AmbikaKashi princess. Closes her eyes at Vyasa; Dhritarashtra is born blind.
- AmbalikaKashi princess. Pales at Vyasa; Pandu is born pale.
- ParishramiThe maid sent in Ambika’s place. Mother of Vidura.
- ViduraBorn of a maid and Vyasa. Dharma in a shudra body. The epic’s conscience, unused.
- ParikshitAbhimanyu’s posthumous son. The Kuru line after the war. Dies of Takshaka’s bite.
- JanamejayaParikshit’s son. Holds the snake sacrifice. The Mahabharata is recited to him.
- SanjayaDhritarashtra’s charioteer. Granted sight to narrate the war — including the Gita — to the blind king.