Satyavati (Sanskrit: सत्यवती, IAST: Satyavatī; also spelled Satyawati) was the queen of the Kuru Kingdom in the Hindu epic Mahabharata.

As a young woman, Satyavati met the wandering rishi (sage) Parashara, who fathered her son Vyasa out of wedlock.

She married Santanu on her father's condition that their children inherit the throne, denying the birthright of Shantanu's eldest son (and crown prince) Bhishma.

While Satyavati's presence of mind, far-sightedness and mastery of realpolitik is praised, her unscrupulous means of achieving her goals and her blind ambition are criticised.

[1] Satyavati is known by numerous names in the Mahabharata, among them Daseyi, Gandhakali, Gandhavati, Kali, Matysyagandha, Satya, Vasavi and Yojanagandha.

[2] According to the Harivamsa, Satyavati in her previous life was Achchoda, daughter of the Pitrs (ancestors) and cursed to be born on earth.

[1] The Mahabharata, Harivamsa and Devi Bhagavata Purana assert that Satyavati was the daughter of a cursed apsara (celestial nymph) named Adrika.

[1] She now smelled of musk, and so was called Kasturi-Gandha ("musk-fragrant") and Parashara transformed into fisherman and had intercourse with Satyavati only to return her chastity again.

[2] She asked Parashara to promise her that the coitus would be a secret and her virginity intact; the son born from their union would be as famous as the great sage, and her fragrance and youth would be eternal.

[1] The Mahabharata abridges the story, noting only two wishes for Satyavati: her virgo intacta and everlasting sweet fragrance.

The son immediately grew up as a youth and promised his mother that he would come to her aid every time she called on him; he then left to do penance in the forest.

The son was called Krishna ("the dark one") due to his colour, or Dvaipayana ("one born on an island") and would later become known as Vyasa – compiler of the Vedas and author of the Puranas and the Mahabharata, fulfilling Parashara's prophecy.

[2][5] One day Shantanu, the Kuru king of Hastinapur, came to the forest on a hunting trip and was mesmerized by the musk-fragrance emanating from Satyavati.

[1][9][10][11] The king, shocked and dejected, returned to the palace since he had already appointed his son, Devavrata, who was mothered by Goddess Ganga, as heir apparent.

The fisherman repeated his condition and told Devavrata that only Shantanu was worthy of Satyavati; she had rejected marriage proposals from even Brahmarishis like Asita.

[1][9][10][11] In the Devi Bhagavata Purana, Satyavati's premarital first-born, Vyasa, laments that his mother abandoned him to fate immediately after birth.

During the period of mourning after Shantanu's death, Ugrayudha Paurava (usurper of the throne of Panchala) demanded that Bhishma hand over Satyavati in return for wealth.

[2][9][13] With no heir to the throne, Satyavati asked Bhishma to marry the widows of Vichitravirya (following the practice of niyoga in its narrower sense, as a levirate marriage)[14] and rule as king.

[17] Revealing to Bhishma the tale of her encounter with Parashara, Satyavati well knew that this was the time to call her son Vyasa to aid her.

As a master of "realpolitik", the hungry-for-grandsons Satyavati asserted that to preserve the dynasty, wrong directives by elders should be followed if they are going to reduce the sorrow of a mother.

After the funerary rites for Pandu, Vyasa warned Satyavati that happiness would end in the dynasty and devastating events would occur in the future (leading to the destruction of her kin), which she would not be able to bear in her old age.

"[11] Pradip Bhattacharya, author of Of Kunti and Satyawati: Sexually Assertive Women of the Mahabharata, praises Satyavati's handling of her encounter with the sage Parashara.

Bhattacharya further comments on the sequence of her requests: the bodily fragrance to make the sexual act pleasant for both, the veil of mist to keep the act a secret, virginal status for her future and fame for her child – securing his fame and after practical aspects are sorted out, "eternally feminine" boons of lifelong youth and fragrance.

Bhattacharya says: "Modern-day women could well wish that they were half as confident, clear-headed and assertive of their desires and goals as Satyavati."