Mahabharata – 158

by

Sankar Mukherjee

and

Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya
                       Aadivamsavatarana Parva

Santanu meets daughter of the fisherman

One day the king went to the woods on the bank of the Yamuna. And while the king was roaming there, he was drawn to a sweet scent coming from an unknown direction. And the king compelled by the desire of looking for the cause, he roamed here & there. And in course of his wandering, he saw a maiden of celestial beauty. The king seeing the deep eyed maiden asked her--Who are you ?  Whose daughter? What do you do here ? What is your name? Oh fair one!

 She replied -- May God bless you. I am the daughter of the chief of the  fishermen here. At his order, I am engaged in rowing passengers across this river in my boat for attaining religious merit. Seeing her beauty Santanu  desired her for his wife. And Santanu approached her father presently. The king solicited his consent for the marriage.

But the chief of the fishermen replied to the king --Oh king! As soon as my daughter was born, it was of course, understood that she should be bestowed upon a husband. But listen to the desire I have cherished all along in my heart. Oh you are truthful! If you desire to obtain this maiden as a legal wife, then you have to give me your word of honour. If you agree with my proposal I will of course bestow my daughter upon you truly, as I can never obtain a husband for her equal to you. On hearing chief of the fisher man’s  reply Santanu said ‘ Let me hear  what your desire is. I shall then say whether I would be able to grant it. If it is capable of being granted, I shall certainly grant it’.

The fisherman said -- ‘Oh king! what I ask  is this. The son born of this maiden shall be the crown prince. He will be the king after you. And none else you shall make your successor’.

On hearing this Santanu  felt no urge to  take such oath though the fire of lust burnt in him. The king with his broken heart returned to Hastinapura. All the way to the palace his head was full  of the fisherman's daughter.