The name Bhārata is only one of the ancient names of India. It was called Ajanābha Desam also. Āryāvartam means a land of noble or wise people. This reference appears in Manusmriti.

Though Satyavati also liked Shāntanu, she left her father decide. Her father agreed that a groom like Shāntanu is the best possible match. However, he wanted Shāntanu to promise that the son born to him and Satyavati would be the ruler of Hastināpur.

Bhīṣma noticed that his father was upset about something. When he found out the reason from the ministers, he approached Satyavati’s father to ask for the marriage. Satyavati’s father told him that Bhīṣma himself (his original name was Devavrata) was the impediment to the marriage. To ensure his father’s happiness Bhīṣma vowed that he would not ascend the throne. Further, to ensure that his progenies also do not lay a claim for the throne, he vowed to remain celibate. Recognizing the enormity of the vow, Devas named him Bhīṣma (one who took an enormous vow). Shāntanu also blessed him and said death will come to Bhīṣma only at a time that he himself chooses.

Both of them shared the same name. Unable to digest this, the Gandharva King called Shāntanu’s son for a battle. Shāntanu’s son was killed in the battle which was held at Kurukshetra. This led to the young Vichitravīrya being crowned.

The practice of royals was to hold a swayamvaram where the girl chooses which King she would like to marry. The reverse, where many princesses assemble to be chosen by a prince was never known. This indicates the position that Sanātana Dharma gave women.

The two queens, along with their elder sister Ambā, were from Vārānasi. Bhīṣma wanted them as brides for Vichitravīrya. Bhīṣma abducted them from the Swayamvara that was conducted for their marriage. Bhīṣma single handedly defeated all the assembled Kings. Ambā was let go since she said she had already fallen in love with the king of Salva.

Bhīṣma was categorical that he cannot breach his vow as that would be breaking Dharma. He empathized with the situation that Kuru clan may come to an end. Therefore he offered the alternative that a learned Brāhmin can make offsprings with the queens. Then Satyavati responded by saying Veda Vyāsa, who is her son, is very peaceful, a Great Tapasvi (a person of great austerities) and One without a trace of any sin. Till then Bhīṣma did not know that Veda Vyāsa was the son of Satyavati.

Vyāsa was a great Tapasvi and it was not possible for ordinary women to approach him. Therefore he suggested to Satyavati that both the queens should undergo a strict regimen for one full year so that they gather the ability to approach him. Satyavati was impatient that the kingdom was without heir. Vyāsa then told Satyavati that if the queens can bear his ferocious looks, smell and dirty clothes, that itself would be equal to a year’s Tapas. However, Ambikā got frightened and closed her eyers. Ambālikā went pale with fear. Because of this, the children were born this way.

Sage Āṇimāṇḍavya was wrongfully blamed and sentenced to be impaled. However, even though he was impaled he did not die. The king then learnt that he has been wrongfully impaled. No one could take the spear out of Aṇimāṇḍavya’s body. So they cut out the parts of the spear that was protruding and he was left with the tips inside his body itself. Therefore he was called Āṇimāṇḍavya which means the one with a tip inside him.

When Rishi Āṇimāṇḍavya enquired what did he do that caused him to be impaled wrongfully, he was told by Dharma Devata that he had once poked a worm with a blade of grass. However Āṇimāṇḍavya was less than 12 years of age and as per Shāstras, such Pāpa do not accrue to young boys. Thereafter, Āṇimāṇḍavya defined the rule that actions done before the age of 14 don’t accrue Pāpa.

The smallest of good deeds that we commit may also earn us a lot of good Karma. Similarly, even smallest of Pāpa committed by us can also earn bad Karma.

When Kunti was a young girl, she was responsible for the hospitality of Sage Durvāsa who had visited their kingdom. Pleased with the dedication of Kunti, Sage Durvāsa gave her a boon that she could have the children of any God she thought of, by chanting a Mantra. He was aware of the difficulties she would face later on in her life when she would be married to Pāndu.