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Hinduism
Panchkanya
Women of Substance – 11
 Kunti herself tells Madri who is in the arms of the dead
Pandu,
“Princess
of Vahlika!
You
are fortunate indeed—
I
never had the chance to see
his
face radiant in intercourse.” (125.23)
This reinforces 123.83 which
implies that she has not had sexual relations with Pandu, for then she
would have had intercourse with four men and thereby already be condemned
as of loose character. Actually, in the Brahmavaivarta Purana
(4.115.72) this is precisely what happens. Bana, berating
Aniruddha’s clan, scornfully refers to Kunti having been a lover four
times over [kunti caturnam kamini bhuvi]. Madri’s tribute to
Kunti brings out the beauty of character that makes her a true leader.
“Could I bring up your children/as if they were mine?” (125.42) asks
Madri, lacking that firmness of will that rises above the ego’s petty
bounds (Kunti always takes special care of the Madreyas, particularly the
youngest, Sahadeva). Madri continues,
“You are blessed. There is none like you…
…you are my light,
my guide, most respect-worthy,
Greater in status, purer in virtue.” (125.66-68)
How true a thumbnail portrait
of Kunti! She brings up five children in a hostile court, bereft of
relatives and allies. Neither Kuntibhoja nor the Vrishnis come forward to
provide shelter or support. Quickly she turns to Satyavati’s favourite
grandson by a servant-maid: Vidura. He proves to be her fast friend and
more. It is he who saves them from being burnt alive and it is in his home
that Kunti takes shelter when her sons are exiled. He even accompanies her
at the very end into the forest.
It is not for nothing that Iravati Karve[[1]]
surmised that Dharma, the first “god” summoned by Kunti, is none other
than Vidura, known as Dharma’s incarnation in the epic, for it is the
younger brother (stepbrother in this case), devara, who is the
first appropriate person to turn to for niyoga. Once Bhishma has
provided a roof over her head, it is Kunti who guards her children. The
insecurity is of such dimensions that she dare not inform anyone but
Vidura, not even Bhishma, of the attempt to poison Bhima. It is she who
alerts Yudhishthira to mull-out the secret message in Vidura’s strange
parting words couched in mlechcha dialect.
What an implacable will
we find revealed in what follows! It is she who gets the Nishada woman and
her five sons drunk in the House-of-Lac so that no evidence is left of the
Pandavas’ escape from the gutted dwelling: “instigating Macbeth-Bhima
(to set fire to the house) was Kunti, bringer-forth of men- children
only.”[[1]]
With this ruthless holocaust of six Nishadas it is fitting to realise that
the Nishada dynasty Satyavati sought to establish continues only through
Dhritarashtra, not through Pandu. Thus, the Nishada dynasty of Hastinapura
lasts for just two generations, through Dhritarashtra and his sons, all of
whom are slain.
– 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
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