I had not realized that the Mahabharata was meant to be an account of how karma works, but that does shed light on the inclusion of a lot of the shorter stories contained within the Mahabharata.
From this perspective, I understand what the narrative may have been trying to communicate with the story of Ganga drowning Shantanu's sons. The sons were atoning for their sin they committed in the heavens. Shantan was punished with Ganga's departure because he failed to keep his word when he questioned her.
Devaratha is actually being punished with this long life as a prince. I wonder if they'll cover Satyavati's origin in this version. I wonder if Devaratha agreeing never to have children would have been contributing to his curse or if the fact that he will never have children could operate as some kind of protection from his being reincarnated or anything.
I had forgotten already that Devaratha became known as Bhishma. It's important to note that that means "he of the terrible oath". It doesn't make sense to me that the king could give the boon of choosing the moment of death to his son. I think it would follow more closely if he prayed to the gods that they bless his son for his sacrifice.
I find it interesting that they phrase it as "Bhishma starts the cycle of his death". The three women are kidnapped to be queens for the feeble king of Hastinapur.
This explanation for Amba's rage makes a lot more sense to me. I might like to write about this story.
In this version, it doesn't claim that Satyavati was still a virgin after giving birth to the sage's son. This could be really interesing to cover.
I wonder why Bhishma never noticed the rivalry between Pandu and Drishthira. Maybe he was distracted by his responsibilities in running the kingdom until the boys came of age.
I very much like looking at the story as an explanation of the laws of karma.
Bibliography: Epified Mahabharata
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