Satyavati is the great-grandmother of the Pandava and Kaurava princes, principal characters of the Mahabharata, one of the principal texts in Hindu mythology. She is nevertheless a commoner, daughter to a ferryman or fisherman.

As a young woman, she met the wandering rishi Parashara , by whom she had a son, Vyasa. His birth took place in secret on an island in the river Yamuna.

Later, King Santanu of Hastinapura saw her and asked her to marry him. She agreed on condition that their children would inherit the throne. Their children were Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. After Santanu's death, she with her princely sons ruled the kingdom. Although both these sons died childless, she arranged for her first son Vyasa to father the children of the two wives of Vichitravirya (Ambika and Ambalika).