After the birth of the grandchildren, Satyavati again called Vyasa.
“Dear son,” she told him, “I am grateful to you for allowing Vicitravirya’s two wives to have children, thus avoiding the extinction of one of the noblest lineages of Bharata-varsha. However, Dhritarastra is blind and will not be able to rule normally, while Pandu, as you’ve predicted, will not live long. Therefore, give more children to the two queens; in this way there will be no risk and all this will not have been in vain.”
“I will do as you ask me,” replied the sage, “but it will be the last time, as Vedic injunctions prohibit such an act from being repeated more than three times. Tonight, I will visit Ambika again.”
Warned by Satyavati, the queen accepted on the spot but then, thinking back about Vyasa’s imperious and austere bearing, she was filled with dismay and regretted having accepted so readily. The very thought of this imminent meeting made her terrified. So, she convinced a friend, one of her attendants, to replace her in her room that night, sure that in the dark he would not recognize her.
Unexpectedly, the young lady did not find it so difficult; on the contrary, she was very cordial with the sage, who said to her:
“Since you have not been disturbed by my appearance and have only thought about doing good, you will have a very great son, who will be an incarnation of Dharmaraja, the god of justice.”
Eventually, a child was born who was named Vidura.
Soon after that birth, Vyasa returned to his Himalayan hermitage.
This is a section of the book “Maha-Bharata As It Is vol. 1 of 2”.
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