Satyavati was the great grandmother of Pandavas and
Kauravas. She is one of the most important characters in the Mahabharata. Story
of the birth of Satyavati begins with a king named Uparichara Vasu.
Uparichara ruled over the kingdom of Chedi
and was renowned for his Dharma. He was married to Girika. One day, while
moving through a forest, he was filled with desire to copulate but Girika was
not to be found.
Sitting under a tree, his seminal fluid came out. He
collected it in a banyan leaf and asked his hunting hawk to carry it to Queen
Girika.
On the way, the hawk was attacked by another hawk and the
leaf fell into the Yamuna
River .
In the river lived an Apsara named Adrika in the form of a
fish and she swallowed it.
The fish became pregnant and was caught by a fisherman. When
he cut opened the unusually huge fish, he found a boy and a girl.
He took the children to King Uparichara Vasu. The king soon
realized what had happened. The fisherman pleaded with the king to keep the
girl child. King agreed.
In due course of time, the boy became the king known as
Matsya Raja and the girl became a fisherwoman known as Satyavati.