Matsyagandha (lit tr: fishy smell) was a poor girl who ferried travelers across the river. One day a sage got on her literal boat right in middle of the river. She obliged, had an ugly baby which she promptly threw away into the river, her BO was cured and she married a king...1

FishyBO became known as Queen Satyavati (lit tr: truthful). She had a couple of kids from the king whom she married to princesses conveniently abducted from their homes. The discarded ugly duckling grew up to become Sage Vyasa who wrote the Mahabharata..2

#TalesFromMahabharata

But her woes did not end there - her royal sons died without heirs. So she asked Vyasa to work on his bro's wives. The first princess was so repulsed by Vyasa, she closed her eyes during the action & had a blind son - Dhrithrashtra. The second princess choked on his stench ...3

& had an asthamatic - Pandu. Satyavati demanded a do over. But princesses had had enough and sent a willing maid to proxy. The maid had strange tastes and liked Vyasa - so her son was born normal.

The next time a sanghi asks you what is halala - throw this thread at them.... 4