#12 - KUNTHI

PLEASURES OF KUNTHI

Kunthi is the most pious,righteous loftiest,exceptionally strong woman who commanded silent respect from all strata of people. She was an ideal lady with full devotion, and exceptionally good conduct. She was an aunt of Lord Krishna as she was real sister of Vasudeva, Krishna’s father. Her childhood name was Pritha, and later called as Kunthi because she was adopted by Kunthibhoja. When Durvasa came to visit Kunthiboja , Kunthi served the sage with utmost care . Pleased with this treatment, Durvasa Sage offered Kunthi , certain mantras from Atharva veda, in which persons reciting are sure to invoke the blessings of God for a child. Thus Kunthi was blessed with Karna. She was the mother queen of Indraprastha with five sons, and she treated Gandhari as her elder sister, and Duryodana as her son. Karna is Kunthi’s eldest child, born before her marriage, whom she had carefully packed and consigned to the mercy of a river, Karna was found and reared by foster-parents of the charioteer caste in Hastinapur. They then immensely pleased as they had no child of their own. He was treated as a gift of God as born with kavacha and kundala.He then become a warrior, a man noted for his generosity, and an ally of the Kauravas, led by Duryodhana. On the eve of the war of Kurukshetra there is an attempt to woo Karna over to the side of the Pandavas, first by Krishna, who is an ally of the Pandavas, then by Kunti. But Karna refuses to change sides. Karna does not really learn about his birth for the first time from Kunthi. Krishna has already told him the details before Kunthi has had a chance to do so, and in any case, Karna seems to know the essential facts already, what Krishna says being merely a confirmation.

PENANCE of KUNTHI

The inhabitants of Ekachakra city had a pact with king Bakasura who ruled it. For peaceful living in city, one family member with a cart load of grains,and two buffalloes were offered by every family to that demon. When such a turn came, Kunthi along with her family felt bad as who should go as a prey to demon. Kunthi told that her son was beyond the power of demon to kill. So she consoled and convinced the Brahmins by sending her son Bheema to carry the food for Bakasura. Her sacrifice of ready to send her son is such a remarkable one.
Kunthi was married to the king Pandu. was very pious in nature and was fond of hunting also.As Once Pandu shot the sage Kindama by mistake with an arrow when he was enjoying sensual moments with his wife in the guise of the deer. The dying sage then cursed Pandu that whenever he would try to have intercourse, he

would die on the spot. Disturbed mentally by this event and as a penance, King Pandu gave up his kingdom  and began to live in the forests along with his wives Kunthi and Madri. For this purpose, Kunthi and Madri
also strictly followed their celibacy while staying in the forests. As king Pandu was unable to produce any children because of this curse, Kunthi decided to use the power of Mantras. Thus, she gave birth to three sons- Yudhishtra, Bheema and Arjuna, and made Madri to bear Nakula and Sahadev through Ashwinikumaras. So Kunthi, is the stepmother of the two younger Nakula and Sahadeva .After Pandu's death, Kunthi was ready to commit Sati with her husband. But at being convinced by Madri that it was she who was the cause of Pandu's death, so she must go with Pandu. Kunthi received the honour to be Raj Maata (the royal mother). Kunthi accompanied her brother and sister-in-laws in their exile also and met her end together with them in the forest fire. Kunthi's life was an example of abandonment, penance and detachment throughout.

PAINS of KUNTHI

The loss of her ninety-nine sons in the war had hardened Gandhari and she was full of hatred towards the Pandavas. Kunthi was not in her mind when she planned her revenge and resorted to deceit in order to destroy Yudhisthira. But Krishna countered her deceit with equally vicious deceit, and made her destroy her only surviving son, Durdasa, who had changed sides and had fought on behalf of the Pandavas. Kunthi now became the queen mother and Gandhari was a dependent on the Pandavas. The tables had turned, and the balance of power had completely tilted against Gandhari. She was too powerless to feel even a sense of jealousy towards Kunthi. But Kunthi was not party to their humiliation. The joy her son’s enthronement must have given her was more than offset by her sense of loss. She suffered for her son Karna who had perished in the battlefield. It was as though she was trying to make up for her failure, and give her dead son his due that she had deprived him of when he was alive. She wept for him every single day, and she also mourned for her grandchildren, Abhimanyu and Ghatotkacha, and for her relatives. Karna killed Ghatotkacha, and had participated in the killing of Abhimanyu, but she didn’t utter a word of condemnation against him. But she condemned Arjuna, who had killed Karna. Kunthi told her how she felt no joy in the palace and how miserable she indeed was.

When Yudhishtra lost everything in dice, Pandavas had to go on exile for 13 years. Though Draupadi went along with them Kunthi stayed back. Kunthi had much pains for this separation of his sons for long period. When war was inevitable, Kunthi took Krishna's advice and told Karna about his birth and to support Pandavas. But Karna failed to take her advice and promised that he will not kill any other brother except Arjuna. During the war Kunthi felt happy for Krishna being on the side of her sons. After the war Yudhishtra was crowned and Kunthi stayed in Hastinapur for several years. But she left for forest with Gandhari, then to lead an ascetic’s life.

PRAYERS of KUNTHI

When misfortunes one after another overtook the pandavas Kunthi prayed that they should be vouchsafed strength to remember God constantly. The true prayer is not for getting relief from suffering but for keeping out evil thoughts from the mind and for making good thoughts always dwell there. The prayers of Kunthi are very significant and well loved by the devotees of Krishna. The prayers were offered when the Lord mounted His chariot and was about to depart for His magnificent city, Dwaraka. As she was a pure devotee of Lord Krishna, she approached Him with utmost humility and offered her prayers of surrender at the lotus feet of the Lord.
In Srimad Bhagavatam (1.8.18) we can see that Kunti saying as namasye purusam tvadyam isvaram prakrteh param alaksyam sarva-bhutanam antar bahir avasthitam:" O Krsna, I offer my obeisances unto You because You are the original personality and are unaffected by the qualities of the material world. You are existing both within and without everything, yet You are invisible to all.". The same theory is found in Gita (15.15)
sarvasya chaham hruthi sannivishto matha; smrutthirgnana mapohanam cha/ vaedaischa sarvairahameva vedyo vedantha kruth vedavideva chaham//
as Lord Krishna Himself telling as "It is I who remain seated in the heart of all creatures as the inner controller of all; and it is I who am the source of memory , knowledge and the ratiocinative faculty. Again I am the only object knowing through the vedas . I alone am the origin of Vedantha and the knower of Vedas too. So Kunthi's prayers are similar to Krishna. For the whole world, Kunti Devi is revealing the unique position of Lord Krishna, as her protector. Kunthi says that even though He’s the Lord of all lords, He acts in ordinary ways to please His devotees. Kunthi said as calamities would happen again and again to see Him again and again,. The nature of pure devotees is always absorbed in thinking of the Lord and they pray for obstacles to come so that they can be the recipients of the Lord’s mercy.

Please Note:
Importance of woman in a family has proclaimed in many verses in Manusmruthi. In one such it was stated as " Sochanti jaamayo yatra vinasyathyasu thathkulam / Na sochanthi thu yathraitha varthathe thathni sarvatha // which means “That family gets ruined where the womenfolk are ill behaved, whereas that family prospers where the womenfolk are behaved well”. If one act according to this message, and carefully analyze the episodes of such women in epics, we are sure to prosper well in the country. So let us continue this Yagna...