Shantanu. - Shantanu is the father of Bhishma by his first
wife and the spouse of Satyavati by his second wife in the Mahabharata, the
later of the two major Sanskrit epics.
Despite the fact that Bhishma is the oldest and so has the
right to the kingdom, Satyavati has consented to marry Shantanu on the
condition that her sons govern.
Shantanu agrees to this condition, and in order to appease
his father, Bhishma promises never to marry in order to avoid having offspring
to compete with Satyavati's.
Bhishma keeps his vow till the end of his life, but
Shantanu's determination to ignore the legitimate successor has disastrous
consequences.
Satyavati asks her eldest son Vyasa to sire offspring by his
wives when her son Vichitra virya dies childless.
Pandu and Dhrtarashtra are the result of this marriage.
The Mahabharata battle culminates in their respective sons'
quest for royal supremacy, in which the family is annihilated.
