Satyavati

Quick Facts

About Satyavati

Daughter of King Gadhi of Kanyakubja, married to the Bhrigu sage Richika for a bride price of a thousand moon-white horses. When her husband consecrated two bowls of charu, one for a brahmana son of hers and one for her mother's kshatriya son, her mother coaxed her into exchanging bowls and trees, and the two energies crossed. Told what she had done, she begged that the terrible power skip a generation, and so bore the peaceable Jamadagni while the fire came out in her grandson Parashurama.

In Their Words

Let my grandson be terrible if he must be, but spare my son.

Satyavati

Traits

• dutiful
• yielding
• quick
• repentant

Story Appearances

• The Two Bowls of RiceThe bride who traded the bowls❧ 17 min
• The Two Pots of RiceThe daughter Gadhi priced out of reach❧ 16 min

Stories Featuring Satyavati

19 further tales on this site name Satyavati, in canonical reading order.

• The Epic ComposedVyasa at Badarikashrama, Astika at the Snake Sacrifice, and the Story First ToldAdi Parva ‧ 23 min
• The River and the IslandBirths of Satyavati and VyasaAdi Parva ‧ 17 min
• The Terrible VowTrue love is not possession but sacrifice. Devavrata gave up his kingdom, his future, and his chance at family - all so...Adi Parva ‧ 20 min
• The Terrible VowThe Sacrifice of DevavrataAdi Parva ‧ 23 min
• Bhishma's VowThe Terrible Oath of DevavrataAdi Parva ‧ 17 min
• The Abduction at KashiThe Svayamvara and the Tragedy of AmbaAdi Parva ‧ 14 min
• The Niyoga of VyasaThe Birth of the KurusAdi Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Pole Raised for a FriendA king who came down from his penance, and the festival he left behindAdi Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Ascetics at the GateThe morning five orphans were handed to HastinapuraAdi Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Fisher Queen's BurdenSatyavati's regency and renunciationAdi Parva
• The King Who Fought His NameChitrangada and the gandharva's duelAdi Parva
• Matsya, the Kingdom of the FishThe realm that hid five kings and a queenVirata Parva
• Twenty-Three Days on the SaraswatiBhishma fights his own preceptor and neither man can winUdyoga Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Signs Before the WarWhat Vyasa saw in the sky, the cattle and the birth-roomsBhishma Parva ‧ 18 min
• The Son Struck From the Fire SticksA hundred years of penance, a parrot on a branch, and a child born of frictionShanti Parva ‧ 18 min
• The Rishi Born From a WordVyasa tells his disciples who he was before he was VyasaShanti Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Hand That Rose From the GrassBhishma's own memory of Shantanu's shraddha at the gate of GangaAnushasana Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Wordy DartsFifteen Years of Bhima's UnforgivenessAshramavasika Parva ‧ 19 min
• The Night the Dead ReturnedVyasa Calls the Fallen Out of the GangaAshramavasika Parva ‧ 20 min

Character Arc

1. 1The Thousand HorsesA price her father named to be rid of a poor suitor
2. 2The Bowls ExchangedA mother's request that could not be refused
3. 3The Boon Asked DownLet it be my grandson, and not my son

Key Relationships

• Wife➝Richika
• Daughter➝Gadhi
• Mother➝Jamadagni
• Sister➝Vishvamitra

Places in Satyavati's Story

Drawn from the stories Satyavati appears in.

• Hastinapurहस्तिनापुर
• Banks of the Gangaगङ्गा तट
• Yamunaयमुना
• Shuktimatiशुक्तिमती
• Banks of the Yamunaयमुना तट
• Kashiकाशी
• Gandharaगान्धार
• Badarikashramaबदरिकाश्रम
• Naimisharanyaनैमिषारण्य
• Kurukshetraकुरुक्षेत्र
• Forest Hermitageवन आश्रम
• Hiranvatiहिरण्वती

Related Characters

Others counted among the Sages & Others.

• ✦Sage Kanva
• ◎Eklavya
• ★Shukracharya
• ♛Vrishaparva
• ♛Yadu
• ✧Princess Amba