Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c9.1650

c9.1650

1) A short history. Satyavatī was the daughter of the celestial maid Adrikā. Because of a curse she lived as a fish in the river Ganges. Once the semen of King Uparicaravasu happened to fall in the Ganges and this fish swallowed it in consequence of which it became pregnant. A fisherman caught this fish and cut it. He got two human babies, male and female from the stomach of the fish. The fisherman gave the two infants to the King who took the male child. This child later became the Matsya King. The female child had the smell of fish. The King called her Matsyagandhī (She who has the smell of fish) and gave her back to the fisherman, who took the child to his hut and brought her up as his daughter. As the child was dark in complexion the fisherman called her Kālī. Thus the girl was known by two names Kālī and Matsyagandhī. Later she got the name Satyavatī also.