Shantanu, filled with grief from the loss of his wife and son, began to practise

Brahmacharya and ruled his kingdom extremely well. By merely adopting virtuous
behaviour, Shantanu was easily able to conquer the entire world without lifting
weapons. All the kings declared Shantanu as Emperor and his reign was a peaceful
one. Shantanu gave up hunting and gained popularity from his subjects.

One day, while walking along the banks of the Ganga, Shantanu saw that the river
had become shallow. While searching for the cause of this phenomenon, he came
across a handsome young boy who had checked the river's flow with his celestial
weapon. The young boy was his son however he didn't recognize this because of only
having seen him for a few moments after his birth. The boy recognized that he was
his father however didn't reveal it to him instead disappearing in his very sight
using his powers of illusion. Shantanu upon seeing this wondered whether the boy
was actually his son and called upon Ganga to show the boy to him. Ganga thus
appeared. She then revealed to him that the boy was actually his son Devavrata and
that he was taught the knowledge of the holy scriptures by the sage Vasishtha and
the art of warfare by Parshurama. After revealing the truth about Devavrata she
told Shantanu to take him back with to Hastinapura. Upon reaching the capital
Shantanu crowned Devavrata as the heir-apparent to the throne.[citation needed]

Shantanu & Satyavati

A painting by Raja Ravi Varma depicting Shantanu wooing the fisherwoman Satyavati