|
Hinduism
Panchkanya
Women of Substance – 9
 Let us return to Kunti,
Satyavati’s granddaughter-in-law, a remarkable study in womanhood[[1]].
She chooses the handsome Pandu in svayamvara only to find Bhishma
snatching away her happiness by marrying him off immediately to the
captivating Madri. She insists on accompanying her impotent husband into
exile and faces a horripilating situation: her beloved husband insists
that she get son after son by others. It is in this husband-wife encounter
(Adi Parva 120-124) that Kunti’s individuality shines forth. At
first she firmly refuses saying, “Not even in thought will I be embraced
by another (121.5).” Although this is somewhat ironic as already she has
embraced Surya and regained virgin status after delivering Karna, it is
evidence of her resolve to maintain an unsullied reputation. Hence she
does not emulate her grandmother-in-law by acknowledging her pre-marital
son. Nothing must interfere with the chances of a restoration to the
throne.
That is why she does not tell Pandu about Karna even when he
enumerates various categories of sons including one born to the wife
before marriage. Children born with the sanction of her husband would be a
completely different proposition from one born to her in adolescence as an
unmarried princess. She urges Pandu to be heroic and emulate Vyushitashva
who died prematurely because of overindulgence in coitus like Pandu’s
father, but whose wife Bhadra obtained seven sons by embracing his corpse.
Pandu refuses to invite death-in-intercourse with Kunti (though that is
precisely what he does with Madri) and urges that she will only be doing
what is sanctioned by the northern Kurus (122.7), that the new custom of
being faithful to one’s husband is very recent and cites the precedents
of Sharadandayani, Madayanti, Ambika and Ambalika (rather strangely he
omits the far more apt instance of his own ancestress Madhavi). Finally,
he quotes Shvetaketu’s scriptural directive for implicitly obeying the
husband’s commands:
“the
woman who,
commanded by her husband
to procreate children, refuses,
is guilty of the sin of infanticide.” (122.19)
This makes no impact on Kunti.
She cannot be browbeaten and her character is far stronger than her
husband’s. She gives in only when Pandu abjectly begs her:
"Sweet lady,
I
fold my palms
joining the tips
of my lotus-leaf fingers
and I implore you
listen to me!” (122.29)
Look
at the sheer grace and power of her reply:
“Best
of Bharatas! Great adharma
it is for a husband to ask
repeatedly a favour: shouldn’t a
wife
anticipate his wishes?” (122.32)
With delightful one-upwomanship,
she reveals that where he had wanted her to approach some eminent Brahmana,
she has the power to summon any god to her bed. Like her
grandmother-in-law revealing her final weapon, Vyasa, to Bhishma only in
the last extremity, Kunti shares the secret of her mantra only
after Pandu has been brought to his knees.
– Continued
Panchkanya Pages : 1 |
2 | 3 | 4
| 5 | 6 | 7 |
8 | 9 | 10 |
11 | 12 | 13 |
14 | 15
16 | 17 | 18 |
19 | 20 | 21 |
22 | 23 | 24 |
25 | 26 | 27
Now also in Hindi at
http://www.hindinest.com/visheshank/01stri/panchkanya1.htm
Now also in French at http://www.neurom.ch/mbh/kanya.pdf
Top |
Hinduism
|
