Week 9 Story: Oathkeeper
Long ago, King Shantanu met Ganga, the river goddess. From this matrimony he was able to procure one living son, Deverat. Deverat's other siblings had been drowned by his mother. Because King Shantanu spoke out against Ganga for her infanticide, Ganga took Deverat and left. Then, many years later King Shantanu was able to be reunited with his long lost son, Deverat.
After many years of being alone, King Shantanu fell in love with Satyavati, a fisherman's daughter. However, she refused to marry him.
"You already have a baby momma and her son will be the next king so why should I marry you?" said Satyavati
"I.." King Shantu was speechless. What could he say? Even though he was a king, being a single father scared many women off. King Shantanu turned back to his kingdom deeply saddened.
Deverat noticed his father's sadness and approached him.
"What's wrong dad?"
"Nothing, son. I am fine."
However, Deverat knew this was not nothing. His dad had been sulking for days! When Deverat found that his father was sad because another woman had rejected his father because of him, he knew he had to do something about it. Deverat went to Satyavati's house and talked to her.
"If you are worried about me taking the throne, you do not have to. I rather see my father happy, than for me to rule." said Deverat
"How can I trust you? Even if you do not want the throne, your children may want to." replied Satyavati
"Well, then I will swear to never take the throne. I will not marry or have children so that no one else could take the throne except your children." said Deverat
Because of this terrible oath, Deverat was now referred to Bhishma. Satyavati married King Shantanu and they had Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. King Shantu had passed and Chitrangada ruled the kingdom. However, Chitrangada died from battle. Bhishma kidnapped three girls for Vichitravirya: Amba, Ambika, and Ambalika. However, Amba had another man. Bhishma let her go to the King Shalva , but King Shalva did not accept her. Rejected, she asked Bhishma to be her husband.
"Bhishma, King Shalva will not accept me because he thinks it is shameful for him to take me as his wife when you brought me for Vichitravirya. I want you to take responsibility!" said Amba
"I am sorry that happened. But if King Shalva did not want you because of his pride then he does not love you. I can not love you either. I have an oath to keep." said Bhishma
Fuming with anger, Amba said "I will get you back for this. I will even make an oath out of it since you like oaths so much."
While Bhishma was able to keep his oath this time, it was put to the test again. Vichitravirya died from illness. With no children of hers left, Satyavati pleaded with Bhishma to take Vichitravirya's wives and to rule the kingdom.
"You may not be my son by blood, but the sacrifice you made for me may just have made you my son. It is time for you to relinquish that oath. I want you to rule the kingdom." said Satyavati
"Thank you, but I stay true to my word. I will not take Vichitravirya's wives or rule the kingdom." said Bhishma
"Okay, fine. If you do not like these girls then pick any other girl!" said Satyavati
"Thank you, but I will have to stand my ground. I made an oath with you and I do not plan on breaking it." said Bhishma
Therefore, Satyavati brought her long lost son, Vyasa, to be the next king. In the end, Bhishma was able to keep his oath. He even guided the future princes.
Author's Note:
Devarat is the son of King Shantanu and Ganga. Later, King Shantanu fell in love with Satyavati. However, she refused to marry him because her sons would not be the crown princes with Devarat being the first born son. To make his father happy, Devarat made a terrible oath that he would not take the throne or marry/have children so there would not be an opponent for the claim of the throne. The terrible oath that Devarat swore is how Devarat became known as Bhishma. Bhishma kidnapped Amba, Ambika, and Ambalika to be the wives of Vichitiraveerya, his half brother. Amba asked to leave for she had eyes for another and Bhishma apologized to her and let her go. However, when she went to King Shalva he rejected her and told her to go marry Bhishma. Bhishma also refused Amba because he wanted to keep his oath. Vichitiraveerya passed away from an illness and left no heirs. But still Bhishma refused to break his oath. For this story I focused on Bhishma, an honorable man who would not break his oath. I focused on his background too so the readers could understand Bhishma's character. I created dialogue to bring the story to life. I tried to use more modern words to implement this.
Bibliography
The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution by Epified TV
After many years of being alone, King Shantanu fell in love with Satyavati, a fisherman's daughter. However, she refused to marry him.
"You already have a baby momma and her son will be the next king so why should I marry you?" said Satyavati
"I.." King Shantu was speechless. What could he say? Even though he was a king, being a single father scared many women off. King Shantanu turned back to his kingdom deeply saddened.
Deverat noticed his father's sadness and approached him.
"What's wrong dad?"
"Nothing, son. I am fine."
However, Deverat knew this was not nothing. His dad had been sulking for days! When Deverat found that his father was sad because another woman had rejected his father because of him, he knew he had to do something about it. Deverat went to Satyavati's house and talked to her.
"If you are worried about me taking the throne, you do not have to. I rather see my father happy, than for me to rule." said Deverat
"How can I trust you? Even if you do not want the throne, your children may want to." replied Satyavati
"Well, then I will swear to never take the throne. I will not marry or have children so that no one else could take the throne except your children." said Deverat
Because of this terrible oath, Deverat was now referred to Bhishma. Satyavati married King Shantanu and they had Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. King Shantu had passed and Chitrangada ruled the kingdom. However, Chitrangada died from battle. Bhishma kidnapped three girls for Vichitravirya: Amba, Ambika, and Ambalika. However, Amba had another man. Bhishma let her go to the King Shalva , but King Shalva did not accept her. Rejected, she asked Bhishma to be her husband.
"Bhishma, King Shalva will not accept me because he thinks it is shameful for him to take me as his wife when you brought me for Vichitravirya. I want you to take responsibility!" said Amba
"I am sorry that happened. But if King Shalva did not want you because of his pride then he does not love you. I can not love you either. I have an oath to keep." said Bhishma
Fuming with anger, Amba said "I will get you back for this. I will even make an oath out of it since you like oaths so much."
While Bhishma was able to keep his oath this time, it was put to the test again. Vichitravirya died from illness. With no children of hers left, Satyavati pleaded with Bhishma to take Vichitravirya's wives and to rule the kingdom.
"You may not be my son by blood, but the sacrifice you made for me may just have made you my son. It is time for you to relinquish that oath. I want you to rule the kingdom." said Satyavati
"Thank you, but I stay true to my word. I will not take Vichitravirya's wives or rule the kingdom." said Bhishma
"Okay, fine. If you do not like these girls then pick any other girl!" said Satyavati
"Thank you, but I will have to stand my ground. I made an oath with you and I do not plan on breaking it." said Bhishma
Therefore, Satyavati brought her long lost son, Vyasa, to be the next king. In the end, Bhishma was able to keep his oath. He even guided the future princes.
(Picture of Bhishma Making His Oath Wiki)
Author's Note:
Devarat is the son of King Shantanu and Ganga. Later, King Shantanu fell in love with Satyavati. However, she refused to marry him because her sons would not be the crown princes with Devarat being the first born son. To make his father happy, Devarat made a terrible oath that he would not take the throne or marry/have children so there would not be an opponent for the claim of the throne. The terrible oath that Devarat swore is how Devarat became known as Bhishma. Bhishma kidnapped Amba, Ambika, and Ambalika to be the wives of Vichitiraveerya, his half brother. Amba asked to leave for she had eyes for another and Bhishma apologized to her and let her go. However, when she went to King Shalva he rejected her and told her to go marry Bhishma. Bhishma also refused Amba because he wanted to keep his oath. Vichitiraveerya passed away from an illness and left no heirs. But still Bhishma refused to break his oath. For this story I focused on Bhishma, an honorable man who would not break his oath. I focused on his background too so the readers could understand Bhishma's character. I created dialogue to bring the story to life. I tried to use more modern words to implement this.
Bibliography
The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution by Epified TV
Hi Jojo, I personally loved how you re told this story as it has been a few weeks since I read it and I personally really enjoyed it. How selfless is it that Bhishma loved his father so much that he would given up his throne in order for a woman to marry his dad, the king. Bhishma is a loyal family man and made it his duty to also look after his three younger bothers in order to make them the best kings he could never be. I loved the comment you had the father said about being his blood son but now being his son!
ReplyDeleteWow, poor Bhishma. This sounds very similar to the Ramayana, with a prince being denied his right as heir because of a jealous wife. Is there any significance to the name Bhishma? It might help if you explained the meaning behind the name so we knew exactly why he changed it. I'm guessing it means "bachelor" or "one who is celibate" or something like that. Anyways, good story. I look forward to hearing more from you.
ReplyDeleteHi again, Joanna! I would like to begin by saying that I enjoyed reading your version of the story. I can see that you made the tone of the story to be more modern versus how it was originally written. With that being said, I liked how you focused on Bhishma. I think that he is an extremely honorable man, and I really like that you picked him as the center of your story.
ReplyDeleteHey Joanna!
ReplyDelete"You already have a baby momma", I actually laughed out loud at this. I thought it was cool that you told the story in more modern language, and it seemed as if you enjoyed doing so! One thing I would mention is that in the ninth section, it seems as if the ending after '...rule the kingdom,' said c" is missing. It's only a minor detail for editing purposes though!