Scene 1
Bhishma tells Chief Physician about the prince's death and commands him to embalm the body. The news of the prince's death is to be a secret, he warns the physician.
Queen Satyavati is pacing up and down, looking at the embalmed body of her son. Then she resolutely walks out.
Bhishma is deep in thoughts in his chamber when Queen Satyavati comes in.
Queen
: I wanted to see and talk to you. That's why I have come.
Bhishma
: Tell me.
Queen
: Bhishma, I do not know what you think about me, but I can tell you what I think about myself. There are two Satyavati's inside me. One is a mother who cannot cry aloud or perform the final rites of her son. The other is the queen of Hastinapura who believes she has to even lay her life for protecting her country. Your father has entrusted the care of this country to you and to me. Both of us share this responsibility. Your brother is being preserved by floating him in medicated oils. If I do his final rites, both Ambika and Ambalika would give up their lives on the funeral pyre. Of what use is that to this country? What will happen then? Seeing the country without heir, dogs, wolves and foxes will occupy Hastinapur's throne. Bhishma, why did you take the vow of celibacy? To protect this country and to see that the throne goes to my sons, isn't it? But all your sacrifices have come to a nought.
Bhishma
: (looks at the queen quizzically)
Queen
: How can we prevent Ambika and Ambalika from burning at the funeral pyre? Either they should have borne children or they should be pregnant at the time. You brought the princesses of Kashi by holding their hands. Now you should help me, your mother, so that Hastinapur is protected. You know what I am suggesting. You should make concessions to your vow of celibacy. I know what you are thinking and how you feel about it. We are governed by certain rules and we must follow them even if we do not like it. This has happened in Kshatriya families before. Our ancestors have followed them too and it has been sanctioned by our scriptures and accepted by the learned. My son, our problems do not disappear by hesitating or failing to take action. As Shanthanu Maharaja's wife, i owe it to see that this lineage does not end, and I am prepared to do whatever it takes. But only you have the key to this question. For my sake and for the sake of this country, can you relax your vows a bit? Didn't you take them for your father's sake and for the sake of this country?
Bhishma
: Do you think that I took the vow without emotions? If you thought that I took the vow for my father's pleasure or to see him married to you, you are mistaken. I am Gangeya, the son of Ganga Devi. People who respect Ganga Devi give up something close to their heart. I gave up the right to royal position and conjugal pleasures in the name of my mother. My mother fed me not merely with food but with true knowledge through Sage Vasishtha. She taught the best royal military traditions through Sage Parasurama. She taught me all about values in life. For the sake of Hastinapur I can fight an entire army single handedly. I can use my body to protect Hastinapur, but not use it to give any progeny. What you say is Kshatriya dharma, but my swa-dharma (personal dharma) would not permit this. All I can do is to offer my life... (picks up a sword to cut his head but Satyavati stops him.)Scene 2
Queen Satyavati goes to pray in solitude to Devi, her Kula devata. As she prays fervently seeking divine help to end the impasse in her life, she sees flashes of her own past come vividly to her. She raises her head resolutely, because she has found the answer to her questions.She sends for Bhishma who comes to hes chambers.
Queen
: Bhishma, do you believe whatever I do is for the welfare of this country?
Bhishma
: Of course! There is no doubt in my mind on that account.
Queen
: I will let you on a secret that happened a long time back when I was a teenager ferrying people across river Yamuna. One day Sage Parasara came to me and asked me to ferry him across. As we were midway in the stream, the sky darned dark and cloudy. The Sage closed his eyes and sat in meditation. There was a voice from the sky. The Sage said I was the special recipient of God's grace, and a god-like baby would be born to me. How was it possible for a young girl like me I asked. That's god's will, he said. He told me to close my eyes. As the clouds covered the sky, a divine light passed from the Sage's forehead and entered my body. When I opened my eyes, a three-year old boy was standing next to me. The Sage said the child's name was Krishna. The sage said my son would appear before me anytime I thought of him. He is the Krishna Dwaipayana the whole world knows as Veda Vyasa. Sage Parasara led the boy away. Yesterday I went to meet him in his hermitage. For the first time in my life, I prepared food and served him with motherly love. He was very moved and very happy. I shared my grief with him. I told him how I lost both my sons, and how I had to steel my heart and keep the body uncremated, because not only will the fire turn into cinders his two wives but also the future of the citizens of Hastinapura. I also told him how Bhishma refused to listen to my pleadings and how the oath my father demanded ended as a thunderbolt on my own head. That is why I am seeking your refuge.Vyasa said he was leading a life with the sole aim of leading a yogic life and attaining moksha. I told him I would die if Hastinapur faced destruction and only his cooperation could save Hastinapur.
Vyasa agreed. I told him that he shouldn't think of me as being selfish. I apologized to him for taking away the fruits of severe austerities he had practiced all his life. Then Vyasa saw through his Yogic power the future events and told me that it was all pre-ordained and that we are mere tools in the cosmic scale of things. I asked Vyasa to accompany me but he told me to proceed and said he would follow me soon.
Bhishma
: The world-renowned Vyasa is my elder brother! I am indeed fortunate.
Queen
: He is a great scholar, no doubt, yet he is still the son of a mother. That is why he melted before my tears. He was prepared to lay down as charity the fruits of all his penance. He has agreed to imprenate Ambika and Ambalika. Bhishma, do you agree with all this?
Bhishma
: I know you will do everything in accordance with Kshatriya dharma which will enhance the welfare of Hastinapur. Indees, Hastinapur is lucky to have his progeny as its rulers.
Scene 3
Vyasa is talking to his disciple who had been listening to the conversation between Satyavati and Vyasa.
Disciple
: You could have avoided frittering away your hard-earned spiritual merit by not becoming enmeshed in worldly attachments.
Vyasa
: Anyone born on this earth from a mother's womb is subject to the laws of Karma. I have to undergo the consequences of my Karma. I cannot escape that. Moreover, when my mother pleads before me with teary eyes, I cannot refuse.
Disciple
: Does that mean one cannot escape the clutches of fate or the consequences of one's Karma?
Vyasa
: It is not that one cannot escape. They should not try to do so.
Disciple
: You are omniscient, yet yet too suffer the same fate?
Vyasa
: A Jnani (a person with spiritual knowledge) knows the future and accepts it with a laugh. An ordinary person cries when facing a tough situation. If you can treat pain and pleasure as equal emotions then you can become a jnani and laugh whether you experience pleasure or pain.
Scene 4
Ambika and Ambalika sit anticipating laying their lives on the sacrificial fire as Sati. Queen Satyavati enters and gives them bridal dresses saying Ambika should wear one that night and Ambalika on the subsequent night.
To the shocked princesses, Satyavati talks of the Kshatriya tradition in which upon the death of a man who leaves the wives childless, his brother unites with the wives to provide them children. Since Vichitra's elder brother Bhishma is not inclined to do this on account of the vow he has made, she has asked her son born before her marriage to King Shantanu to assist her in this. She then tells them about her teenage years when she gets a son through Sage Parasara, who becomes known to the world later as Vyasa.
Ambika and Ambalika are disgusted. Captured by one man, married to another and sharing bed with a third... Won't they be called whores, they protest and criticize the queen harshly. Hastinapur is no country, it is a cremation ground, they yell.
Queen
: Hold your tongue and stop it! What do you know about the traditions and the history of the great Hastinapura? I have explained it over and over like one does to a child. What temerity you have to speak so irresponsibly? Do you know the agonies of a mother who has kept the body of a dead son even without giving it the honour of final rites? Are you Kshatriya girls? Shame! You don't even know what it means! The instant you marry a king, the kingdom becomes yours. After that, only the welfare of the country should occupy your mind and you should entertain no other thoughts. You may think I am heartless. Though motherly sentiments assail me continuously, I never forget I am the Queen of this country and my supreme duty lies in protecting this country. I never let myself forget when I lost my first son, and then the next, in such a short period of time even before my sorrow could heal.If I had been in your place I would have prepared to face the situation like a true warrior. You should not worry about who your enemies are. You should concentrate only on protecting the country. This is where I was cheated. I thought you were true Kshatriya girls.Suddenly the queen softens, and says she had been very harsh to young girls who had just lost their husbands. Then she says she is tired of fighting the battle. 'If I did not have two sons at the time of King Shantanu's death, I would have let myself perish on the funeral pyre and would not have had to plead so pitiably before you.You decide what you want to do. If it so pleases you, do ascend the funeral pyre and let Hastinapur burn along with you.'
Scene 5
Amba reaches the snowy peaks of Mount Kailasa, enters the icy cave and stands tottering before the Shiva Linga. She vows that she wouldn't leave the place until Lord Shiva appears before her.She sits in meditation before the Linga on the icy floor.
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