In the original story, Uparichara was a king who was devoted to ascetism. He was flying over a river when his semen fell into the water below him. A female fish swallowed his children which ended up in the creation of a boy and a girl. A fisherman, who caught the fish and discovered the two kids, told this to the king. The king ended taking the boy but leaving the girl, Satyvati, to the ferryman. Satyvati was beautiful but had a fishy smell so a rishi promised her to remove the smell if she remained a virgin.