Kunti, one of the prominent
queens in the Mahabharatha, was the daughter of King Kuntibhoja, wife of King
Pandu and the mother of Six - Karna & the five brothers, Pandavas.
Birth of Kunti
Kunti was born to Shurasena, a
Yadava king and was named Pritha. She was given in adoption to King Kuntibhoja
who renamed her as Kunti, the name by which she came to be known thereafter.
**Kunti was the sister of
Vasudeva (father of Lord Krishna), which is why the Pandavas were known to be cousins of Krishna.
The rarest of rare Mantras
Kunti was brought up with a lot
of love and affection by Kuntibhoja and she grew up into a beautiful girl. When
she was young, Sage Durvasa visited their kingdom. Known for his wrath and
powerful curses, King Kuntibhoja made sure all arrangements to make the Sage
feel comfortable during his stay in the kingdom. But Sage Durvasa had come with
another intention. He asked the king to send Kunti with him to help him in his
daily prayers and spiritual activities. The king fell at the Sage’s feet and
requested him to ask him for anything else but his daughter. At this request,
the Sage flared up and said the kingdom would have to bear the consequences of
his curses if the king did not oblige to his needs. The king reluctantly agreed
and conveyed the same to Kunti.
From the stipulated day, Kunti
spent all the time with Sage Durvasa and helped him complete his rituals with
complete devotion and spirit. Sage Durvasa was extremely pleased and satisfied
with her commitment and blessed her by teaching her a rare “Mantra”. The recital of the Mantra would
allow Kunti to invoke any God of her choice and beget children with his
blessings.
Birth of Karna
Having been taught a very
powerful mantra, something which was almost unbelievable, the young Kunti, was
intrigued as to whether it would really work. Not out of her childlike
behaviour yet, the young princess, chanted the mantra invoking Lord Surya (the
Sun God). Immediately, the God appeared before her and blessed her with a baby
boy, Karna. The baby boy was born with a Kavasa (armour) and a pair of Kundalas
(earrings), which had great powers associated with it.
Kunti was totally taken aback as
she did not expect this to happen, the bigger problem being, she was still
unmarried and she could not bring disgrace to her family. With a heavy heart,
she decided to abandon the baby. She placed the baby in a casket and along with
it, all her jewellery, so that anybody who found the baby would not have a
difficulty in bringing up the child.
Marriage with Pandu
As years passed by, Kunti came to
be known as one of the most eligible women in the country, far from others in
beauty & wisdom. Her father arranged a Swayamvara (an ancient practice in
India, where all eligible bridegrooms are invited and the bride gets to choose
her husband, according to her likes), where almost all the princes had
assembled, eager to win the heart of the beautiful princess
Of the many princes, Kunti chose
the prince of Hastinapura, Pandu and married him. Pandu later married the Madri,
the princess of Madra.
** Satyavati had arranged for another marriage for Pandu, to extend the
progeny of their family. The throne of Hastinapura had already suffered from
emptiness for many years (Shantanu – who died at an early age, Bhishma – who
had taken a vow that he would not ascend the throne, Chitrangada who died even
before marriage, Vichitraveerya – who died after marriage but before he was
blessed with children). A prophecy had been given that Pandu would lose his
life at a young age too. Faced with the urgency in need of a heir, Satyavati
arranged for a second marriage for Pandu.
The Mantra put to use
After a few years of palace life,
King Pandu retired to the forests with his two queens, so that his ambitious
brother, Dhritarashtra, could ascend the throne of Hastinapura.
One day, Pandu went for a hunting
exercise deep into the forests. He spotted a deer and shot his arrow at it. The
arrow found its mark and the deer fell to the ground. A few minutes later, he
found that it was not one deer that had fallen, but two – one male & the
other female. Also these deer transformed into humans – obtaining the form of
Sage Kindamamuni & his wife. Pandu was aghast at the sight; he realized
that he had shot arrows at a couple when they were enjoying their times
together and had also killed them.
Pandu ran towards the dying Sage,
fell at his feet and begged his pardon. The sage, in his last moments of life,
was enraged at the sight of Pandu. He looked at his loving wife, who was also
on the verge of death and cursed Pandu that he would also die, the moment he
entered into a physical relationship with his wives.
Pandu was crestfallen at this
curse and prayed to the sage to forgive him but in vain. The sage and his wife
died. Pandu returned to his queens and narrated the happenings to them. All
three of them were broken, since they did not have even one child until then.
Birth of the Pandavas
As months passed by, the sight of
Pandu lamenting over his fate, that he could not father any children, disturbed
Kunti. After a lot of deliberations within herself, she finally confided to
Pandu about the mantra Sage Durvasa taught her and the power of the mantra.
Pandu was only too overjoyed on
hearing this and said they should beget children with the help of the Mantra.
First, they called upon Lord Dharma (God of Justice) using the mantra and was
blessed with Yudhishtira, as righteous as the God himself. Next they called
upon Lord Vayu (God of Air), to bless them with a child as strong as Vayu. Thus
Bhima, the strongest of all the princes, was born. For their third son, the
couple invoked Lord Indra (King of Devas), who blessed them with Arjuna, second
to none other than Indra himself in beauty & valour.
Pandu requested Kunti to share
the mantra with Madri too, so that she could also experience the joy of being a
mother. Kunti obliged to his request and taught Madri the mantra. Pandu &
Madri invoked the Ashwini Brothers to bless them with children as a result of
which Nakula & Sahadeva, the twin brothers, were born.
Death of Pandu
Years passed and the Pandava
princes grew up to handsome young boys. They grew up as blessed by their
Godfathers and stuck to their virtues of justice, strength, beauty &
valour.
One day, when they were alone,
Pandu was suddenly engulfed in Madri’s beauty and neared her. Madri warned her
about the curse from the Sage Kindamamuni a few years back. But Pandu paid no
heed to her words and lost himself to her. The effect of the curse was still
alive and Pandu died instantaneously. Madri, who was taken over by guilt that
her husband died because of her, did not want to live anymore and joined her
husband on his journey to heaven. Kunti, on the other hand, was left to take
care of their five sons.
She returned to Hastinapura with
her five sons, so that they could be taken care of in an appropriate manner
with the help of Bhishma, Vidura and their kith & kin.
Life in Exile
The Pandava princes did not find
the favour of their cousins, Kaurava princes (sons of Dhritarashtra, the elder
brother of Pandu). They were constantly being harassed by the 100 Kaurava
princes, primarily Duryodhana & Dushasana, the eldest of them. Even from
early childhood, the Kaurava princes were being poisoned by Shakuni, the
brother-in-law of Dhritarashtra, that they should be the successors to the
throne of Hastinapura.
Even as they grew up into young
men, the hatred between the two sides kept brewing. To avoid conflicts between
them and for the good of the country, the king, Dhritarashtra, advised the
Pandavas to spend a few years in the forest and later a part of the kingdom
would be shared with them. Yudhistira happily agreed to his uncle’s request and
left the country with his mother & four brothers, who were thoroughly
discontented with their brother’s decision. They felt their uncle was being
unfair to them. Most of Kunti’s life was thus spent in exile after which ensued
the terrible battle of Kurukshetra, the war between Dharma & Adharma. In
the war, her first son, Karna - born of the Sun God, took sides with Duryodhana
and was killed by the Pandavas, which left Kunti with pangs of guilt and
sadness.
Death of Kunti
The Pandavas, who followed the
path of Dharma, won the battle and Yudhishtira ascended the throne.
Dhritharashtra & Gandari, the parents of the Kaurava princes, retired to
the forests, renouncing worldly pleasures. Kunti, also weary of her difficult
life, accompanied them to the forests. During their ascetic life, all three of
died due to a forest fire.
The life of a queen, who fought
with difficult situations all through her life, thus ended. Right from the days
when Karna was born, when she had to abandon him with a heavy heart, she had to
go through difficulties of her husband’s curse, his death, the single parentage
of five sons, the well-being of her sons who were harassed by their cousins and
the final battle where Karna had to be killed by her own sons.
