Shantanu is the king in this story. He falls in love with a
woman that makes him never question her actions. She then drowns their babies,
but Shantanu is not happy about it. She tells him that she is the river and is
to give birth to Vasus, who are punished for the theft of cows. In her mind,
she is returning them to heaven. She takes the last child and returns him when
he is no longer a child and is named Bhishma. Later, the king falls in love
with the daughter of a fisherman. Her father does not approve of the marriage
because her offspring will not have access to the throne as Bhisma is next in
line to be king. Bhishma therefore gives up his right to rule so his father can
marry the woman.
I think
this would be an interesting excerpt to do a story or possibly a portfolio
project story on. I could do a story in which a father wants something, but access is
forbidden due to the status of his son. The son then gives up his position in
order to benefit the father. As this is what Bhishma did for Shantanu, I could
write a story in which a father is applying for a new job, but the fact that
his son works for a sister company prevents him from getting the job as a
product of nepotism laws. The son could then give up his job for the benefit of
his father. Perhaps I could even change the story so that the son gets a better
job opportunity later down the road as a result of the good deed that he
performed for his father.
Bibliography: Narayan's Mahabharata
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