Template:Santanu

Santanu – (Prabu) – Mahabharata

Prabu Santanu is described as very handsome, very skilled in playing weapons and loves hunting in the forest. When his father, King Pratipa was about to abdicate, his older brothers, Dewapi and Bahlika refused to inherit the throne. Dewapi decided to live as an ascetic, while Bahlika decided to travel to West India. Therefore, Santanu was the one who had to replace his father as the king of Hastinapura. Prabu Santanu was the king of Astina before the Pendawa era. He was a priest with the title Rishi from the country of Talkanda.

Once, Prabu Santanu was hunting on the banks of the Ganges River, where he met a very beautiful woman. The woman was Goddess Ganges, she was undergoing the curse of Lord Brahma to come down to earth and become the wife of King Kuru's descendant. Prabu Santanu was captivated by the beauty of Goddess Ganges, he fell in love and proposed to Goddess Ganges to become his queen.
Goddess Ganges agreed to become the queen of Prabu Santanu, but with the condition that whatever she did to her child, Prabu Santanu could not forbid her. If Prabu Santanu broke his promise, then Goddess Ganges would leave him. Prabu Santanu accepted the condition of the woman he had just met and fell in love with.

After getting married, Goddess Ganges became pregnant with her first son, not long after she gave birth, but Goddess Ganges immediately drowned her in the Ganges River. She continued to do this until she had her seventh child. Prabu Santanu could not prevent his wife's actions because he was bound by his previous promise.

Goddess Ganges then became pregnant with her eighth son. Because he could no longer stand what his wife did to the children she gave birth to, Prabu Santanu stopped his queen's actions. Dewi Gangga stopped her actions, then explained that the sons she gave birth to were incarnations of Astabasu or eight Wasu. Her action of drowning the babies was to release their souls to reach heaven, the abode of the Wasu.

It is said that the eight Wasu had stolen the sacred ox belonging to Resi Wasista. Because they were caught, they were cursed by Resi Wasista so that their Godly powers would disappear and they would transform into humans. One of the eight Wasu was Prabata who was the leader of the theft plan. While the other seven Wasu only followed along and Prabata was the main perpetrator, so he would transform into a human being the longest. Later Prabata would transform into a sacred human named Dewabrata. After explaining this to Prabu Santanu, Dewi Gangga who was still pregnant disappeared in the Ganges River. King Santanu finally let go of his queen and returned to rule the kingdom in Hastinapura.

16 years later, when King Santanu was walking along the banks of the Ganges River, he saw a very strong young man, able to dam the waters of the Ganges River using hundreds of arrows. Goddess Ganga then appeared and explained the origin of the child to King Santanu. Hearing Goddess Ganga's explanation, King Santanu was very happy, because his son who had been taken away since birth had returned. King Santanu named the child Dewabrata (young Bisma), and invited him to return to the palace. Dewabrata grew up to be a son who was devoted to his parents and had a high knightly soul, and he was nominated as the successor to the throne.

One day, King Santanu heard news that around the Yamuna River there was a very fragrant smell. Because he was curious, King Santanu walked to the Yamuna River. There, he found the source of the fragrant smell from a village girl named Gandhawati, or Satyawati or Durgandini. The girl was very beautiful in appearance and smelled good. King Santanu fell in love with Gandhawati and proposed to her to become his queen. However, Gandhawati's father, Dasabala, put forward the condition that if his daughter became Prabu Santanu's queen, she would be treated according to Dharma and Gandhawati's descendants would be the successors to the throne.

Hearing these conditions, King Santanu returned home disappointed and heartbroken. He fell ill because he always thought about the girl he loved. Seeing him his father fell ill. Dewabrata also investigated the cause. He asked the coachman who was taking his father for a walk, Dewabrata finally got the information that his father was in love with a girl. Finally, Dewabrata went to the Yamuna river, he represented his father to propose to Gandhawati who his father really wanted. He accepted all the conditions proposed by Dasabala. Dewabrata swore that he would not marry for the rest of his life and would not continue the throne of the descendants of King Kuru so that in the future there would be no power struggle between his descendants and Gandhawati. His oath was witnessed by the Gods, and from then on his name changed to Bisma.

Finally, Prabu Santanu and Dewi Gandhawati married and had two sons named Citranggada and Wicitrawirya. After Prabu Santanu died, Bisma finally appointed his younger brother Citranggada as the successor to the throne of Hastinapura, but not long after inheriting the throne, Citranggada died and was replaced by Wicitrawirya. But so did Wicitrawirya, he died before he had time to give offspring as the successor to the throne of Hastinapura.

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Source: History of Wayang Purwa - Hardjowirogo - PN Balai Pustaka - 1982
Blog: Hadisukirno – Yogyakarta – 2011