Page "Satyavati" Paragraph 18

During the menstrual period of the older queen, Ambika, Satyavati invited Vyasa to Ambika's bedchamber.

However, during lovemaking with Vyasa, Ambika noticed his dark appearance and closed her eyes.

Vyasa declared to Satyavati that due to Ambika's cruelty, her son would be blind ( but strong ) and have a hundred sons – later known as Kauravas ( descendants of Kuru ).

Satyavati considered such an heir to be an unworthy king, so she asked Vyasa to have niyoga with her other daughter-in-law.

During their niyoga, Ambalika fell pale due to Vyasa's grim appearance.

As the result the child would be wan, Vyasa told his mother, who begged for another child.

In due course, the blind Dhritarashtra and the pale Pandu were born.

Satyavati again invited Vyasa to Ambika's bedchamber ; she remembered Vyasa's grim appearance ( and repulsive odour ), and substituted a Shudra ( lowest caste ) maid in her place.

The maid respected the sage and was not afraid of him, and Vyasa thus blessed her ; her son would be the most intelligent man, and she would no longer be a slave.

Vyasa told Satyavati of the deception, and then disappeared ; Vidura, an incarnation of the god Dharma, was born to the maid.