The scene from the previous episode shows Ganga Devi leaving her first born baby into the river and Shantanu looking on in dismay.
The king is riding a chariot, and as they reach a specific spot, the horse neighs and refuses to move. The king notices a breech in the river. The king aims an arrow and moves a boulder to block the flow of water. But another young man reverses this by shooting another arrow. For a few minutes, the two men fight each others move. As the two lock horns, Ganga appears and explains to the bewildered king that the young man is indeed his own son!
Scene 1
Shantanu, with two friends from neighboring regions. They congratulate Shantanu's victorious return from the 10-year war he has fought vanquishing the enemies of Kuru dynasty. They recall that when his father Pradeepa died, Shantanu was merely ten years old but he could recognize the evil designs of the enemies who had reckoned they could defeat the young boy easily and divide the Kuru kingdom among themselves. Brave as a tiger, Shantanu had left his "cave" when he was fifteen and in a few years conquered the neighboring regions and returned to his capital, his head high like Indra, the god of gods.
Shantanu
: Enough. No need to praise. Never praise your friend in his presence. But yes, are you all happy? Is everything under control?
1st friend
: Everything is fine. Yet we have a concern.
Shantanu
: Concern? My friends having worries? Whatever it is, tell me and I shall do whatever I can to see it solved.
2nd friend
: People are not satisfied with power. Wealth and fame are not enough. The people of the Kuru have worries that they would like to bring to your attention through us.
Shantanu
: People have worries? Only recently I removed the tax; rain has been abundant, and the produce from the earth has been good. No fear of robbers, no hunger. Then what is their problem?
1st friend
: The citizens are concerned about the welfare of their king. They say that for ten years, the king swirled on the battle field like a tempest; when is he going to enjoy a breeze in his life? Oh king, the queen's seat is the seat of goddess Mahalakshmi! Sorry about the audacity to remind you.
Shantanu
: I know all of you have my welfare in your minds. And you have the duty to remind me. Time has to be ripe for these matters. At the most opportune time, my ancestors will point to me my queen.
1st friend
: You are interested in marriage , isn't it?
Shantanu
: Yes, I am interested. On the mountains, along the riverside or over the breeze, I will meet my future wife. At that time, Manmatha, the god of love, will shoot his dart and introduce her to me. The fragrance from hundreds of flowers will surround me; deepas will light without being lit; I will hear the music from the harp and from my body without somebody stringing it. It will be a special day.Scene 2
That day came today. Visuals show a beautiful woman, dressed in white, trying to pluck flowers from the boughs of a tree. Shantanu is attracted by the girl: he shoots an arrow and the flowers shower on the delighted girl.
Shantanu
: Wow, an abishekam of flowers for a flower! I am Shantunu, the king of Hastinapura.King Shantanu introduces himself. The woman says she is Bhageerathi, the daughter of Bhageerath who brought Ganges to the earth.
Shantanu
: I have never been attracted by a woman before. I know only a woman who is going to be my wife can make my heart beat fast. And now my heart is beating fast. I recognize my lover, my wife and Hastinapur's future queen. We can marry in the Gandharva style this very instant with Lord Shiva as the witness.
Ganga
: I have no objection in marrying you. But I have a condition.
Shantanu
: I agree to all your conditions. Tell me, when can we marry?
Ganga
: If I become your wife, you should never object to whatever I do.
Shantanu
: You are more precious to me than life itself! How can I object to what you are doing?
Ganga
: Listen carefully to what I say. Even if my actions are contemptible, despicable, against the law or against your wishes and likes, you should not question me. If you do, I would leave you that very instant. Our marriage contract gets nullified that very instant. This is my condition. If you agree to this, we can marry.
Shantanu
Shall we now get married with Shiva as the witness?
Ganga
: Did you understand my terms fully well? You must not back out. You must not fret later.
Shantanu
: No, no! Shall we now marry in front of the Lord?The king takes out a ring from his hands and puts it on Ganga's fingers. They go round the Shiva Linga and worship it together.
Scene 3
King Shantanu enters the palace with his new wife, and they lead a happy life together. When the queen delivers her first baby, the servant girls rush to the king to convey the happy tidings. As the jubilant king rushes to the queen's apartments, he is shocked to see the queen taking the newborn infant swaddled in new clothes to the river bank and drowning it there. The king remembers the promise he made to the queen that he would never question her actions even if they were atrocious; hence he remains quiet.The scene is repeated with six more babies meeting the same fate.
Scene 4
At a market place, a priest invokes goddess Ellai Kaliamma prior to starting the oratory. People gather around him, and unknown to them, King Shantanu along with his minister, both in disguise, huddle in with the rest of the crowd.The priest chastises himself by lashing and in a charged voice pronounces oracles about the misfortune that has befallen Hastinapur, about the killing of infants by mothers and the inaction of the king against this gore. He predicts harsh times ahead for Hastinapur: no crops and no rain.
The king and the minister leave the crowd and returns to the palace.
Scene 5
Minister
: If you do not stop the killing of at least this eighth child, the entire country will denounce you. You must put an end to this.
Shantanu
: True. I do not know why the queen did this, but this time I am going to stop it.The queen who has overheard the conversation is worried. 'Will the king now break his promise now? Would that mean that my time parting has come?' she thinks to herself.
The king enters the queen's apartments. He solicitously offers her some fruits that she should eat and take care of the growing child in her womb.
Shantanu
: Do you remember the Vaidyas have said that tomorrow our son would be born in the dawn like a rising sun.
Queen
: Yes, I have not forgotten that.
Shantanu
: Are you taking regularly the medicines that our Vaidya has prescribed for you?
Queen
: Yes, I do.
Shantanu
: The citizens are very happy, because Hatinapur's prince will be born tomorrow. They have even named named him as Gangeyan.
Queen
: Oh.
Shantanu
: We will build him a huge palace for him. We should raise him in a way that would make people take notice and wonder. Vasishtha should impart education to him. Parasurama should train him in warfare. Vasistha and Parasurama are higher in status than Indra himself. Our son will defeat Indra. He will bring heaven on this earth.
Queen
: I am feeling sleepy.
Shantanu
: Ok. The sun that rises tomorrow will greet Hastinapur's little prince. Isn't it so?
Queen
: Everything will happen as fate wills it.The king tenderly helps Ganga to go to bed and wishes her good night. He is happy, he hasn't broken his promise to her, while expressing his wish. He hopes everything will be alright the next day.
Scene 6
It is the early morning the next day. The queen's attendants rush to the king announcing the birth of the young prince. The king rushes to queen's chambers and finds it empty. When he reaches the shores of the river, Ganga is just about to lay the baby on the water.
Shantanu
: Stop it! Are you a demon? Why have turned into a baby-killing rakshasi?
Queen
: Oh, King! You are now governed by love for your son. You don't need me any more.
Shantanu
: Don't talk like a fool! The baby is a symbol of our love. What is the justification for killing this child? What sin has the baby committed? This river Ganges never goes dry. Has your heart turned dry?
Queen
: Oh King! Whatever fate has decreed has come to pass. You have forgotten the agreement that we both made.
Shantanu
: Which one are you terming as an agreement?
Queen
: What we made across the same river in front of the Shiva Linga. That you would never stop me from doing anything, however reprehensible it be.
Shantanu
: I loved you then, as much as I love you now. And because of that love I did not want to go against any of your desires, and so I made the promise. Can there ever be an agreement that says a wife would kill her own son and the husband does or say nothing against this? You dipped your animal-like claw in blood and wrote my name with it. When I meet my seven children in the heaven, and they ask me why their mother killed them mercilessly, what and how will I reply them?
Queen
: The time has come for us to part ways. I am not happy with this. You are the first and the last spring in my life. The curse that had befallen us has been lifted now.
Shantanu
: What curse?
Queen
: The curse that we incurred in our previous life. You may not remember that. We fell in love in Indra-loka in front of Indra. They sent us to the bhoo-loka to fulfill our desires. While we were on our way, the godly children Ashta-vasus beseeched us to make us their parents and be born on the earth. And we granted them their wish. To fulfill their requests, I sent the seven children born to us to the heaven. This eighth child is the chief of Vasus. I came here to send him too to heaven. But you stopped me.
Shantanu
: I understood you only now.
Queen
: God must have some work for him here. That is why he has stayed back here instead of going to the heaven. He will henceforth remain the protector of Kuru country just as you wished. Because of him, your name will be inscribed on the walls of the heaven. I am taking him now with me. I would educate him and make him a great warrior as per your wish and then entrust him to you. Give me the permission to leave you now.
Shantanu
: Ganga, you are taking away my very soul!
Queen
: You have a country to rule. You are the protector and the very life of Hastinapur. Let me go now.
Shantanu
: Don't leave me alone!
Queen
: I am going today so that I can come tomorrow. I will make our son a great and unrivalled warrior and bring him to you.King watches sadly as Ganga leaves with the baby and recedes into the distance. Two women who watched the proceedings report back to other citizens of Hastinapur. They regret they had so far misunderstood their queen.
Scene 7
Visuals show King Shantanu recalling the good times he had with Ganga. Ganga takes Gangeyan to a group of sages who tutor him in languages. Gangeyan learns how to wield bows, mace and swords.King Shantanu sits morosely in Ganga's thoughts, when a minister approaches him and reminds him of the piling of unattended official work. He tells the king that eight years had already passed and in a few more years the prince would return to him, and that the king should remain in a happy state of mind to receive him. The king resumes his work.
Devavrata is seen aiming an arrow at the mouth of a clay horse on a revolving table, looked on anxiously by his mother Ganga and his guru. As the arrow lands perfectly into its target, the triumphant guru tells Ganga that her son has mastered all the martial arts in a short time and is proficient enough to defeat him any time.
Guru
: There is nothing left in the art of archery for you to master any more. You have to remember only this. Never use your weapons unless there is a threat to life for you or for those dependent on you. You must wield the weapons only against atrocity of any kind and only if the atrocity cannot be prevented without its use. You must have the fear in your heart that you have to account to God for the use of every single arrow you use.
Ganga
: You are an incomparable master in the use of weapons. I bought my son Devavrata to you as a mere log of wood. You have sculpted him into a fine form and given it to me.
Guru
: Devavrata, may you succeed in all the paths of dharma.Mother and son bow to Guru and take leave of him.
Scene 8
Shantanu
: Minister, do you know the importance of tomorrow?
Minister
: Yes, I do. Harvesting starts tomorrow in the entire kingdom of Hastinapur.
Shantanu
: Tomorrow is the day Ganga left me eighteen years back. The birthday of the prince. According to the promise Ganga made to me, tomorrow is the day when I will be meeting Ganga and my son.
Minister
: I will arrange for special abhishegams to the Lord as well as charity in all the temples in the country.
Shantanu
: Yes, go ahead.
Scene 9
Father and son hug each other.
Shantanu
: Is he my son? After being separated from you two, I led my life as a walking corpse. Today my body has been infused with a fresh life.
Devavrata
: Did I wage a war with my father who had been so intensely desirous of meeting me? Oh father, forgive me (falls at Shantanu's feet).
Ganga
: I have completed my duties and responsibilities today.
Shantanu
: Oh yes, spring has once again come to our lives.
Ganga
: No, my king. You must forgive me. As desired by you, Vasishtha has imparted education to Devavrata, and Parashurama has taught him the methods of warfare and made him a great warriorce.. In the entire land of Bharata-varsha, there is no one to equal him in delivering justice and no one to rival him in valor. But I have to part from you all.
Shantanu
: My queen, I cannot live without you, please!
Ganga
: Oh king! I came to entrust Devavrata to your care, and I have done it. My work has been accomplished. I have to return to the heaven. Kindly grant me leave.
Shantanu
: You are giving me my eyes but snatching away my life!
Ganga
: You can see me in Devavrata.
Devavrata
: Is it my fate to live without either my father or my mother?
Ganga
: Yes, that is what is it is, son. I have to go back to Indra-loka. Without letting me become miserable, please permit me to leave.
Shantanu
: I must be truly an unfortunate man.
Ganga
: That's not so. You are indeed the most fortunate man to get a son like Devavrata. (to Devavrata)Do not fret my son. Your future lies in protecting Hastnapur's welfare. Your father has suffered untold miseries much because of me. From now onwards, your father is the most important person for whom you have to dedicate your life. Would you do that.Despite repeated entreaties, Ganga leaves Shantanu and Devavrata.
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