Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 9 - Chapter 1 - Verse 25


Sanskrit:

क्षेत्रेऽप्रजस्य वै भ्रातुर्मात्रोक्तो बादरायण: ।धृतराष्ट्रं च पाण्डुं च विदुरं चाप्यजीजनत् ॥ २५ ॥

ITRANS:

kṣetre ’prajasya vai bhrāturmātrokto bādarāyaṇaḥdhṛtarāṣṭraṁ ca pāṇḍuṁ caviduraṁ cāpy ajījanat

Translation:

Bādarāyaṇa, Śrī Vyāsadeva, following the order of his mother, Satyavatī, begot three sons, two by the womb of Ambikā and Ambālikā, the two wives of his brother Vicitravīrya, and the third by Vicitravīrya’s maidservant. These sons were Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Pāṇḍu and Vidura.

Purport:

Vicitravīrya died of tuberculosis, and his wives, Ambikā and Ambālikā, had no issue. Therefore, after Vicitravīrya’s death, his mother, Satyavatī, who was also the mother of Vyāsadeva, asked Vyāsadeva to beget children through the wives of Vicitravīrya. In those days, the brother of the husband could beget children through the womb of his sister-in-law. This was known as devareṇa sutotpatti. If the husband was somehow unable to beget children, his brother could do so through the womb of his sister-in-law. This devareṇa sutotpatti and the sacrifices of aśvamedha and gomedha are forbidden in the Age of Kali. “In this Age of Kali, five acts are forbidden: the offering of a horse in sacrifice, the offering of a cow in sacrifice, the acceptance of the order of sannyāsa, the offering of oblations of flesh to the forefathers, and a man’s begetting children in his brother’s wife.” (Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa).