Ambika
Encyclopedia
Ambika was the daughter of Kashya, the King of Kashi
and queen of Vichitravirya
, King of Hastinapura
.
Along with her sisters Amba and Ambalika
, she was taken by force by Bhishma
from their Swayamvara
. Bhishma challenged the assembled Kings and Princes and defeated them. He presented them to Satyavati
for marriage to Vichitravirya.
After Vichitravirya's death his mother Satyavati sent for her first born, Rishi
Veda Vyasa
. According to his mother's wishes, both the wives of Vichitravirya to grant them each a son. When Vyasa visited Ambika, she saw his very dreadful and forbidding appearance with burning eyes. In her frightened state, she closed her eyes and dared not open them. Hence her son, Dhritarashtra
, the father of the Kaurava
s, was born blind.
After Dhritarashtra's birth, when Satyavati requested Vyasa to visit Ambika for the second time, she dared not go and sent her maid instead. So Vyasa induced the child into the maid too, resulting in the birth of a son Vidura
, who was raised as a brother of Dhritarashtra and Pandu.
Varanasi
-Etymology:The name Varanasi has its origin possibly from the names of the two rivers Varuna and Assi, for the old city lies in the north shores of the Ganga bounded by its two tributaries, the Varuna and the Asi, with the Ganges being to its south...
and queen of Vichitravirya
Vichitravirya
Vichitravirya in the Hindu epic Mahabharata is the younger son of queen Satyavatī and king Śaṅtanu. His elder brother, Chitrāngada, had initially succeeded their father to the throne of Hastinapura, but when he died childless, Vichitravirya succeeded him.Vichitravirya was still a child when he was...
, King of Hastinapura
Hastinapura
Hastinapur is a town and a nagar panchayat in Meerut district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.-History:Hastinapur was the capital of the kingdom of the Kauravas, belonging to the Kuru dynasty of kings. The throne of this city was the prize over which the Kurukshetra War of the epic...
.
Along with her sisters Amba and Ambalika
Ambalika
Ambalika was the daughter of Kashya, the King of Kashi and queen of Vichitravirya, King of Hastinapura.Along with her sisters Amba and Ambika, she was taken by force by Bhishma from their Swayamvara, the latter having challenged and defeated the assembled royalty...
, she was taken by force by Bhishma
Bhishma
Bhishma or Bheeshma or Devavrata or 'Bhishma Pitamah' was the eighth son of Kuru King Shantanu who was blessed with wish-long life and had sworn to serve the ruling Kuru king. He was one of the most prominent characters of the great Indian epic, the Mahabharata. He was the grand uncle of both the...
from their Swayamvara
Swayamvara
Swayamvara , in ancient India, was a practice of choosing a husband, from among a list of suitors, by a girl of marriageable age. Swayam in Sanskrit means self and vara means choice or desire ....
. Bhishma challenged the assembled Kings and Princes and defeated them. He presented them to Satyavati
Satyavati
Satyavati was the queen of the Kuru king Shantanu of Hastinapur and the great-grandmother of the Pandava and Kaurava princes . She is also the mother of the seer Vyasa, author of the epic...
for marriage to Vichitravirya.
After Vichitravirya's death his mother Satyavati sent for her first born, Rishi
Rishi
Rishi denotes the composers of Vedic hymns. However, according to post-Vedic tradition, the rishi is a "seer" to whom the Vedas were "originally revealed" through states of higher consciousness. The rishis were prominent when Vedic Hinduism took shape, as far back as some three thousand years...
Veda Vyasa
Vyasa
Vyasa is a central and revered figure in most Hindu traditions. He is also sometimes called Veda Vyasa , or Krishna Dvaipayana...
. According to his mother's wishes, both the wives of Vichitravirya to grant them each a son. When Vyasa visited Ambika, she saw his very dreadful and forbidding appearance with burning eyes. In her frightened state, she closed her eyes and dared not open them. Hence her son, Dhritarashtra
Dhritarashtra
In the Mahābhārata, Dhritarashtra was King of Hastinapur at the time of the Kurukshetra War, the epic's climactic event. He was born the son of Vichitravirya's first wife Ambika, and was fathered by Vyasa. He was blind from birth, and became father to a hundred children by his wife Gandhari...
, the father of the Kaurava
Kaurava
The term Kaurava is a Sanskrit term, that means the descendants of Kuru, a legendary king who is the ancestor of many of the characters of the Mahābhārata.The term is used in the Mahābhārata with two meanings:...
s, was born blind.
After Dhritarashtra's birth, when Satyavati requested Vyasa to visit Ambika for the second time, she dared not go and sent her maid instead. So Vyasa induced the child into the maid too, resulting in the birth of a son Vidura
Vidura
Vidura was an important figure in the Mahabharata, a major Hindu epic. He was half-brother to the kings Dhritarashtra and Pandu of Hastinapura, born the son of the sage Vyasa and a lady-in-waiting to the queens Ambika and Ambalika of the city...
, who was raised as a brother of Dhritarashtra and Pandu.