An Index to the Names in the Mahabharata, with Short Explanations and a Concordance to the Bombay and Calcutta Editions and P. C. Roy's Translation c5.s2.908

c5.s2.908

Çantanūpākhyāna(m) (“episode relating to Çantanu”). § 162 (Sambhav.): The rājarshi Pratīpa spent many years in ascetic penances at the source of Gaṅgā. She sat upon his right thigh and wished him to be her husband. He replied that the left lap was for the wife, but the right for the daughters and daughters-in-law; therefore he accepted her for his son, to which Gaṅgā consented on the condition that his son should not be able to judge of the propriety of her acts. Then Pratīpa, along with his wife, engaged in ascetic austerities from desire of offspring, and when they had grown old, Mahābhisha (v. Mahābhishoka.) was born as a son to them and was called Çantanu, because his father had controlled his passion (çantasya samtānaḥ, v. 3882, cf. 3799). When Çantanu had grown to become a youth, Pratīpa told him about his appointment with the celestial damsel, installed him upon the throne, and retired into the woods. Çantanu, who was addicted to hunting, one day came upon the banks of Gaṅgā, frequented by Siddhas and Cāraṇas, and there he requested Gaṅgā, in the form of a lovely maiden, to become his wife (I, 97). (For continuation v. Bhīshmotpatti.)