Three sons from Vyasa in Hastinapur and Dharmaraj being born
as Vidura
I discovered an interesting tale of Vidura; son of sage Vyasa who was Dharmaraj in his previous birth. He was cursed to be born as Sudra in Hastinapur. As stated before Bhishma took an oath now not to marry during his life. His father Shantanu married Satyavati and she gave birth to two mighty sons named Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. After the demise of Shantanu, Chitrangada became king but died fighting Gandharvas. After his elder brother's death, Vichitravirya ruled Hastinapura under the guidance of Bhishma. There is additionally another story related to Bhishma abducting three daughters of the Kashi King in their swayamvara by means of showing his daring there, defeating the Shalya king, and marrying off two of them to Vichitravirya. They were Amba, Ambika, and Ambalika. I will discuss it later in other posts. Vichitravirya after spending seven years continuously with his other halves died without having any descendants. Anxious about the kingdom Satyavati asked Bhishma to wed With Ambika and Ambalika and to carry forward their generation and rule Hastinapura. Bhishma denied respectfully due to the fact of his oath of being celibate. Hence Satyavati determined to take the assistance of his other son Vyasa. Vyasa was born to her Sage Parashara before her marriage to Shantanu. After taking permission from his mother Vyasa entered the palace of Ambika. He tried to be intimate with her but seeing his terrifying appearance, Ambika closed her eyes. For which she gave birth to a blind son named Dhritarashtra.
Since a blind son could in no way rule the kingdom Satyavati convinced her other daughter-in-law Ambalika. She did not close her eyes out of fear however she lost Her radiance and her skin grew to become whitish. Hence She gave birth to a son who was predicted to have a short lifeline. His name was Pandu. Satyavati once more requested Ambika for a second son however out of worry she sent her maid to Vyasa. She worshipped sage and thrilled him. Hence she was blessed by Vyasa to be the mother of sensible Vidura who was Dharmaraj in his previous birth.
Let me narrate to you the story where it is referred to why he was born as Shudra and how he was once cursed. Some time ago, there was a sage named Mandavya who used to be a truthful Ascetic. He practised rigorous abstinence and was on a vow of silence at that time. A few robbers came to his hermitage with some stolen goods. They were being chased by some guards of the kingdom. So the robbers had hidden those goods there. When those guards asked the sage about the robbers, he could not answer. While looking out the place they found the hidden stolen goods in his hermitage. They arrested the robbers along with the sage and handed them over to the king. King punished all of them with a death sentence. He had impaled all of them on spikes. Thieves died, however, Sage Mandavya remained the same without even consuming food. King could understand he had carried out a mistake so he released the sage. However, the spike could not be pulled out completely. So, the king cut off the ends and the sage walked with the spike protruding from his body. He named Animandavya — the one with a stake in him. He went to Dharmaraj and wished to be aware of his sin for which he got punished in such a way. Dharmaraj noted to him in his preceding birth Mandavya had tortured the insect for which he received treatment like this. Mandavya then requested Dharmaraj the age when he hurt the insect. He confirmed sage he had executed it in his childhood. Mandavya defined to him, "According to Dharmasastra mistakes are no longer considered of someone till he reaches the age of twelve. I did not have the expertise of sastra rules at that age. You have punished me for a small offence. Killing a Brahmin is a dangerous sin."
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