We left at the Bheeshma oath and the renaming of Devavrata as Bheeshma last time. The Prince in his blind attachment to his father partook an oath to leave the kingdoms to (good or bad ) destiny, by promising an unknown descendent from a family with a family culture of of known greediness and grabbing nature, to be the rightful heir to the throne in his own place - while he very well knew that he himself had been trained for bearing the responsibilities involved. He enjoyed his newfound respect in the hearts of one and all as the noble and selfless son who sacrificed his own happiness for his father's sake. No one stopped to think to blame him for his selfishness in his decision of seeing his father happy at the risk of the happiness and peace of the kingdom. Well ... it goes to reassert the fact that monarchies where the rulers word is law are not conducive to the larger good of people.
So now, when Shantanu was informed of all this, he was unhappy about his son's vow, in that his son was foregoing his right for his sake, but even he - in his pledged position of a king who is responsible for the well being of the nation, did not stop to think about the possible future repurcussions of this folly. He was unhappy for his son's rightful position being disturbed, but not worried about the national good. While he did make a token gesture of showing that he was against Devavrata leaving his right, he nonetheless went ahead and married the lovely maiden who had ensnared him in her attractions, and not even opposed her father's insistent demand for what was clearly a case of greed.
Satyavati went on to bear two sons for Shantanu. They were named Vichitraverya and Chitrangada ( see part 3 of this series for the family tree)
We will continue from here in the next part.
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