01.100
Core:Birth of Dhritarastra, Pandu and Vidura.
Vaiśampāyana said:
Then Satyavatī, at the proper time, after the bride had bathed during her season, gently laid her on the bed and spoke these words.
O Kausalyā, your brother-in-law is coming today and will approach you. Be attentive and wait for him; he will come at midnight.
Lying on the auspicious bed, the daughter-in-law heard her mother-in-law's words and then thought of Bhīṣma and the other leading Kurus.
Then the truthful sage, first appointed to Ambikā, entered the bedchamber while the lamps were brightly burning.
Seeing his dark complexion, tawny matted hair, blazing eyes, and brown beard, the lady closed her eyes.
Out of desire to please her mother, union occurred that night; but out of fear, the daughter of Kāśī could not bring herself to look at him.
Then, as he came out, the mother approached her son and said, “Will a virtuous royal son be born of her?”
Hearing his mother's words, the supremely wise Vyāsa, possessed of super-sensory knowledge and impelled by destiny, replied.
He will have the vitality of ten thousand elephants, be scholarly, the foremost of royal sages, greatly fortunate, of immense prowess and intellect.
He will have a hundred sons of great strength; but due to a defect from the mother’s side, he will be born blind.
Hearing those words, the mother then said to her son, “A blind man is not suitable to be king of the Kurus, O ascetic sage.”
You should grant another son — a second king for the Kuru line — who will protect the family and continue the ancestral lineage.
The great ascetic, having agreed, departed. In due time, Kausalyā gave birth to that blind son.
Then again, that blameless queen addressed her daughter-in-law and summoned the sage, as she had done before.
Then, in the same manner, the great sage approached Ambālikā. But upon seeing him, she too became sorrowful and pale-faced, O Bhārata.
Seeing her pale, frightened, and downcast, Vyāsa, the son of Satyavatī, said these words, O King.
Because she became pale upon seeing my unappealing form, this son of hers shall be born pale — he will be called Pāṇḍu.
His name here shall also be Pāṇḍu, O beautiful one. Thus saying, the venerable sage departed.
Then, seeing him depart, Satyavatī spoke to her son, who again informed his mother about the paleness of the child.
The mother once again requested him for another son. The great sage replied to her, “So be it, O mother.”
Then that queen gave birth at the proper time to a son—Pāṇḍu—endowed with auspicious marks and radiant like splendor. From him were born five Pāṇḍavas, mighty archers.
Then, in due season, the elder bride was offered to him. But contemplating the sage’s appearance and scent, she, though like a celestial maiden, out of fear, did not obey the queen’s command.
Then the daughter of the king of Kāśī adorned her maidservant with her own ornaments, making her appear like a celestial nymph, and sent her to the dark-complexioned sage.
The maidservant came forth to receive the sage, greeted him, entered with his permission, honored him, and served him attentively.
The sage attained satisfaction with her through sensual union; the great sage spent the night with her, who was affectionate toward him.
Rising, he said to her, “You shall become a queen. This glorious child has entered your womb, O lovely one. He will be righteous and the wisest of all in the world.”
He was born as Vidura, son of Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana, brother to both Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Pāṇḍu, and of immense intelligence.
Dharma himself, due to a curse from the great-souled Māṇḍavya, took birth as Vidura—one who knew the essence of truth and was free from desire and anger.
Having fulfilled his duty as Dharma, he again approached the mother, deposited the fetus, and vanished from there.
Thus, in the field of Vicitravīrya and through Dvaipāyana, were born sons radiant like those born of the gods, who expanded the Kuru lineage.
