The Birth of Krishna Dwaipayana
Krishna Dwaipayana, or Veda Vyasa, is born to Satyavati and Parashara.
The sage Parashara is smitten by Satyavati the fisherman's daughter. Under very unusual circumstances they unite and Krishna Dwaipayana is born.
Satyavati was the daughter of Dashraja, a chieftain of a fishing community. It is said that he found the baby Satyavati inside a fish he had caught. Satyavati retained a fishy smell and was therefore also known by the derogatory name Matsyagandha or one who smells like a fish.
When she grew older, Satyavati took to ferrying pilgrims across the river Yamuna. Once she was taking the Sage Parashara in her boat. Smitten by her charm he wanted to make love to her. At first she objected stating that he was a Brahmin and she a fisherman’s daughter. It was not proper for a Brahmin to have sexual relations with one of her caste. Parashara told her that she was destined to give birth to a very great person from this liaison. She then placed three conditions before him. The first was that no one on shore should see what they were doing, so Parashara created an artificial mist around them. The second was that she should retain her virginity. Parashara assured her that after she gave birth she would again become a virgin and when she got married her husband would not know. She wanted her fishy smell to be replaced by an intoxicating fragrance. Parashara agreed to this as well. He said that a divine aroma would emanate out of her, which could be sensed for a yojana, a distance equal to nine miles. She would then be known as Yojanagandha meaning one whose fragrance spreads for a yojana.
Satyavati conceived and immediately went into labor. On an island in the river she gave birth to a boy. The boy immediately grew up to become a man. He left his mother saying that whenever she would need him all she had to do was call and he would present himself. Since his complexion was dark he was called Krishna, which means dark. And since he was born on an island he was called Dwaipayana, from the word ‘dweep’ meaning island. Krishna Dwaipayana would later be known as Veda Vyasa, because he split the Vedasinto four books.
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