They need some unifying factor to bind them – be it a mother, a common wife, or a common enemy. Indeed, in moments of strife, one would expect these five men to fall out and quarrel. The five men are known by the moniker of ‘Pandavas’ only due to social conventions followed by practitioners of niyoga. They’re not born of the same father or the same mother. Strictly speaking, there is no blood relationship at all between the first three Pandavas and the last two. After all, Yudhishthir, Bhimasena and Arjuna are only half-brothers (because they share a mother, Kunti), and Nakula and Sahadeva are half-brothers to each other (because they have the same mother in Madri). This theme of keeping the Pandavas united recurs throughout the story. Perhaps a part of her is glad to have the option of being alive – albeit as a single mother to five princes that are brothers only in name. However, we must also remember that we have no way of divining her actual thoughts. It needles Kunti that it was Madri and not her that Pandu approached to have sex with, and now she feigns envy that it is Madri who is getting to go to the other world with their husband. Nor is this suggested to them by any of the attending wise men.) Kunti’s Envy (Interestingly, the option of neither of them ascending Pandu’s pyre does not strike them. I am not as conversant as you in scripture and due practice, Sister, but these two reasons suggest to me that it is I who should ascend Pandu’s funeral pyre. It is my duty as wife, therefore, to follow him where he goes so that I might have an opportunity to satisfy him. ‘Then, too, consider that our king approached me with a wish to satiate his desires, and has left for the other world unfulfilled. ‘Under me, these sons of Pandu of different fathers will divide, quarrel and fight but with you, I am certain that they shall remain united until their deaths. You possess a nobility of heart, Sister, that I do not. ‘But if I were to leave them in yours, I have no doubt that you will care for my sons as deeply as you care for your own. If you were to leave them all in my care, I shall not be able to love your sons as mine. She says, ‘Sister, think of the children. So Madri, do not stop me from giving up my life on our king’s funeral pyre.’īut Madri is adamant to be the wife who accompanies Pandu to heaven. ‘I am to be his companion through all journeys, and this one is no exception. Then arises the point of who among them should give up her life to follow Pandu into the world of the dead. ‘I tried to resist him, Sister, I truly did,’ says Madri tearfully. ‘Why did you allow him to approach you with desire?’ ‘You who should have protected the king has taken his life, Madri,’ she says. Her first reaction is to turn on Madri, because she assumes that the younger queen had seduced the king for want of more sons. Pandu falls to his death, his body chilled by an invisible thunderbolt. Here’s what we will cover in this episode:Ī few years after the birth of the Pandavas, one day in the season of spring, Pandu approaches Madri consumed by desire, and though she tries to ward him off, he bends her to her will, and just as they are about to be united, the curse of Kindama comes true. To access the full repository of Mahabharata episodes, see: 60 Mahabharata Episodes that Tell You the Whole Story.) (For the previous post in this series, see Episode 5: Pandavas and Kauravas. This will provide a quick and easy way for someone new to the story to become acquainted with it. In this series of posts, I am reconstructing the Mahabharata as a sequence of episodes.
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