Snippets of Information - Epics
Mahabaratham - Characters - Shantanu
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Shantanu (Shaantanu), a Kuru king of Hastinapura.
He was the son of King Pratipa and Sunanda. He had two brothers
Devapi and Valhika. Devapi became a hermit & Valhika became a
successor to his maternal uncle. Though he was the youngest son,
Shaantanu became king of Hastinapura.
He married Ganga (river Ganges), who bore him a son Devavrata who was afterwards called Bhishma.
Ganga agreed to marry Shaantanu with the condition that he would not
question her actions. Ganga bore eight sons, but drowned her first
7 sons. Shaantanu unable to bear it, stopped her when she was
about to drown the eighth son.
Bhishma, moved by the desire of doing good to his father, got him married to Satyavati who was also called Gandhakali.
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