Kunti - The Mother of Six!

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.