Uparichara was the king of Chedi and Girika was his wife. Once bursting with youthful affection Girika desired to bear an heir to the throne. The king too wanted an heir, but had to leave for a remote forested district of his kingdom for an urgent task. He promised Girika that she would get her wish on his return. In the lovely woods he saw natural life being reproduced all around him and dreaming of his vivacious wife, he could not contain himself. However he did not want to waste his seed of life so he asked a bird to carry it immediately to the queen. In mid-flight this bird was attacked by another and the semen fell into a river where it was swallowed by a fish.
The fish in reality was an apsara (divine maiden) by the name of Adrika. She had been cursed by Brahma to live as a fish till she gave birth to human twins. On swallowing the semen Adrika conceived and during the coming months human life developed inside her body. Just as she was due to give birth, she was caught in the nets of fishermen led by Dashraja. When the fish was cut open a boy and a girl were found inside. The boy was Matsya and the girl Matsyaa. Adrika’s curse was now fulfilled and she regained her womanly form and returned to heaven. The children were brought up by Dashraja. The later girl came to be known as Satyavati.
When she grew older, Satyavati took to ferrying pilgrims across the river Yamuna. Once she was taking the Sage Parashara in her boat. Smitten by her charm he wanted to make love to her. Parashara told her that she was destined to give birth to a very great person from this liaison. She placed three conditions before him. The first was that no one on shore should see what they were doing, so Parashara created an artificial mist around them. The second was that she should retain her virginity. Parashara assured her that after she gave birth she would again become a virgin and when she got married her husband would not know. Being born from a fish, she had retained a fishy smell. Hence she was sometimes called by the derogatory name Matsyagandha or the one who smells like a fish. She wanted this to be replaced by an intoxicating fragrance. Parashara agreed to this as well. He said that a divine aroma would emanate out of her, which could be sensed for a yojana, a distance equal to nine miles. She would then be known as Yojanagandha meaning one whose fragrance spreads for a yojana.
