[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879) › c5.1016 # A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.1016 A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.1016 - **Language:** English ### [c5.1016](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.1016) Krishna Dwaipāyana Vyāsa is not only the author of the poem, but the source from whom the chief actors sprung. He was the son of the Rishi Parāsara by a nymph named Satyavatī, who, although she had given birth to a son, remained a virgin. There was a king, a descendant of Bhārata, named Sāntanu, who had a son called Santavana, better known as Bhīshma. In his old age Sāntanu wished to marry again, but the hereditary rights of Bhīshma were an obstacle to his obtaining a desirable match. To gratify his father's desire, Bhīshma divested himself of all rights of succession, and Sāntanu then married Satyavatī. She bore him two sons, the elder of whom, Chitrāngada, succeeded to the throne, but was soon killed in battle by a Gandharva king who bore the same name. Vichitra-vīrya, the younger, succeeded, but died childless, leaving two widows, named Ambikā and Ambālikā, daughters of a king of Kāsī. Satyavatī then called on Krishna Dwaipāyana Vyāsa to fulfil the law, and raise up seed to his half-brother. Vyāsa had lived the life of an anchorite in the woods, and his severe austerities had made him terrible in appearance. The two widows were so frightened at him that the elder one closed her eyes, and so gave birth to a blind son, who received the name of Dhrita-rāshtra; and the younger turned so pale that her son was called Pāndu, ‘the pale.’ Satyavatī wished for a child without blemish, but the elder widow shrank from a second association with Vyāsa, and made a slave girl take her place. From this girl was born a son who was named Vidura. These children were brought up by their uncle Bhīshma, who acted as regent. When they became of age, Dhrita-rāshtra was deemed incapable of reigning in consequence of his blindness, and Pāndu came to the throne. The name Pāndu has suggested a suspicion of leprosy, and either through that, or in consequence of a curse, as the poem states, he retired to the forest, and Dhrita-rāshtra then became king. - [Previous: c5.1015](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.1015) - [Next: c5.1017](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.1017) - [Up: c5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.1016](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.1016) · Pramāṇa