Satyavati Retires to the Forest with Her Daughters-in-Law
After the funeral rites for Pandu, the sage Vyasa sees the pervasive grief and foresees a terrible future of destruction for the Bharata lineage. He advises his mother, Satyavati, to retire to the forest to avoid witnessing the annihilation of her family. She agrees, persuades her daughters-in-law, and with Bhishma's permission, the three queens leave the court forever.
After Pandu’s shraddha (funeral rites) were performed and the period of ritual impurity had passed, the citizens brought the young Pandava princes to the city. The people still lamented for Pandu as if they had lost a close relative. The sage Vyasa saw that the people, and his own mother Satyavati, remained immersed in grief.
He went to his mother and spoke of what he saw coming. “Happy times are over. Terrible times lie ahead. The earth has lost her youth. Every day is more sinful than the last. A terrible time is coming—full of delusions, thick with vices, with the rituals of dharma destroyed.” He gave her a direct command born of foresight: “Give everything up and go live in a hermitage. You will not be able to witness the destruction of your sons and lineage.”
Satyavati agreed. She entered the quarters of her daughter-in-law Ambika. “O Ambika,” she said, “I hear that as a result of the evil acts committed by your son, this Bharata lineage, along with all its relatives and grandsons, will be destroyed. I will take Kousalya, who is still grieving from the death of her son, and leave for the forest. Come if you want.”
Ambika consented. Taking Bhishma’s permission, Satyavati, rigid in her vows, went off to the forest with both her daughters-in-law. There, the three queens performed terrible austerities. In time, they gave up their bodies, concluding their earthly journey and removing the elder generation from the path of the coming storm.