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The king of Kurus, Pandu ruled his capital city of Hastinapura with the hallmarks of honesty and spiritual service. During the same period, Soora was bestowed with the responsibility of ruling the clan of Yadavas. His cousin, Kunti Bhoja, adopted a girl named Preeta. Legend says that from that particular day of adoption, the girl grabbed the attention of the world as Kunti. Bhishma, popularly known to the people of Hastinapura as ‘Pitamaha’ was the uncle of Kuru King – Pandu. Bhishma chose Kunti to be the bride of Pandu. However, as the legend says, Pandu also married Madri, the sister of Salya. Salya was the king of Madra.
Dhritharashtra, who was fathered by maharishi Ved Vyas, was married to Gandhari, the princess of the Gandhara kingdom. Having learnt the truth about her husband’s blindness, Gandhari’s woe –be-gone thoughts prompted her to tie her eyes with a dark cloth. She avowed not to unfold and untie the cloth. She evinced a strong desire to share the deep pain that her husband experienced every moment of his life. As a consequence, she was rendered blind. In those days, polygamy was in vogue. Hence, it may seem not too surprising to let the cat out of the bag- Along with her, her ten younger sisters were also married to Dhritharashtra.
King Pandu’s mercurial streak in hunting animals often surprised many. Many a time, during his hunting stints, he was accompanied by his wife and court men. During a hunting stint, he shot a stag, while it was in the act of mating with its wife. Unfortunately, the stag turned out to be a sage, who had taken the form of a stag along with his wife, to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh and to obviate any human inhibitions and interventions. The sage took a swing at the king Pandu. The sage, before dying, cursed the king, saying, “Since you have killed a creature in the tenderest of all moments, may you also die the instant you approach a woman with amorous intent!”
Pandu’s despondency was ineffable. He was wallowing in the rising tide of sadness. His momentary pangs of guilt and remorse rendered him speechless. He was at his wit’s end. He accosted Bhishma and spoke to him about the curse and conveyed to him his thoughts of spending the rest of his life in the forest as a hermit. Pandu’s invictus attitude suddenly disappeared and he was in pursuit of penance. Bhishma saw the merit in his arguments and gave his consent. King Pandu’s wives and some of his loyal soldiers accompanied him to the forest. In the fitness of these circumstances, Dhritharashtra was crowned the new king of Hastinapura.
King Pandu went vagabonding about the forests only to be met by some sages. While discussing the divinatory concepts of heaven and salvation through meditation, he was appalled to learn that a man without children could never aspire for a place in God’s heart. Such counterpoising was all the more ironic as Pandu had to face the wrath of God for his unintentional gaffe. However, Pandu burst into tears and sought the blessings of sages, and they whole-heatedly blessed him, saying, “You shall have many worthy and illustrious sons.” The incident left Pandu in a state of deep introspection and he started to think of ways by which he might father his sons. His imagination had gone haywire. Marking an end to the discord and disarray, Kunti unraveled the gospel story of her boons.
She said, “During my childhood, the great sage Durvasa visited my father’s palace. Everyone knew of the Rishi’s fiery temper and wanted to keep him in the best of humors. We were quite successful enough in striking a nice tandem with him. We made all the necessary arrangements for his stay. Impressed with our diligence and arrangements, Durvasa granted me a boon. He gave me a Mantra (incantation), which had the ability to summon any deity who I wished. He said that I would be blessed with a child from that deity. The son born would inherit the features of his divine father. As I was very young, I did not understand the complete implications of this boon. Anxiety had got the better of me. After his departure, I wished to scout out the veracity of this Mantra, and hence started meditating to accost Surya (the sun). I uttered this incantation several times with complete concentration. After a few moments, the Lord of the skies appeared in person before me, impelled by the power of the Mantra. I was frightened, and pleaded him to go away. This, however, he could not do, for the Mantra bound him as well as me. He did grant me a boon in the form of a son. Clad in divine armor and possessing earrings that glittered with dazzling aspect, the child had a remarkable appearance. Since divine births are not subject to the nine month gestation, the child was born to me at the drop of the hat. However, the fear of society pierced my heart. The frission of being ridiculed drove me into the state of oblivion. I became increasingly despondent about the way the things were going. I put him in a casket and set him adrift. I have not met him again. However, I feel that it is right time to use the Mantra. O great king! Command me the name of God that you would like to be the father of your child?”
After hearing his wife’s incident, he was relieved and overjoyed. He thought for a while and spoke, “No doubt that truth is the best virtue that a man should possess. I earnestly wish to be blessed with a child from Yama, the Lord of Justice. I am delighted to father my first child!” Kunti prodded into action by chanting the Mantra and summoned Yama. Following the same vein, without having to wait for the nine month gestation period, she was blessed with a son. The couple named him Yudhishtra. During this time, Dhritharashtra was still childless, and hence Yudhishtra was the eldest prince of the Kuru dynasty.
A year after the brimstone incident, Pandu said to his wife, “Kunti, it is said that a man who has but a single child is no better than a man who has none. From bizarre to brilliance, the only predictable thing about future is its unpredictability. Should something unpredictable happen to our only child, we shall still be in the same predicament as before. Therefore, it is wise to use the Mantra one more time and bear another child.” However, this whole process of using the Mantra seemed not convincing to Kunti. She tried to wish away the notion of second child. Despite her resistance, she yielded. This time they chose the mighty wind Vayu, to be the father of their child. The son thus born was named Bheema.
Meanwhile, Gandhari was getting worried that she was still childless. The great sage Vyasa visited her. She spruced up the palace attended him regularly. Impressed with her services, he whole-heartedly granted a bon. She asked him for a hundred mighty sons. The sage granted that boon. She soon became pregnant. However, nearly a year passed and she still hadn’t delivered a child. At this moment, news was brought to her that Yudhishtra had been born in the forest. In a great desperation writ, she struck her own abdomen to try and induce labor. It seemed to have worked, for she soon went into labor. Great was her chagrin, when she gave birth to a great lump of flesh! At this point sage Vyasa again appeared. He consoled her and had hundred little pots to be brought. He divided the lump of flesh into a hundred pieces and put one in each pot. At the end there was a small piece of flesh left, this he put in a new jar. A few months from this operation, Duryodhana was born from the first jar. His ninety-nine brothers were born shortly thereafter, along with his only sister Dushala (she was that tiny lump of flesh in the separate jar).
As the legend says, many ill omens accompanied Duryodhana’s birth. Intimidated by the ill omens, Dhritharashtra sent for skilled astrologers. After carefully interpreting the vicious omens, they said, “O King, these omens suggest that your first-born son will be the cause of utter destruction of the Kurus. We would advise you to sacrifice him, if you want to preserve your race. It has been said that, to save a family you may sacrifice a man, to save the clan you may sacrifice a family, to save a village you may sacrifice a clan, and to save a kingdom you may sacrifice a village. In this case, to save the kingdom of Kurus, you should sacrifice your first-born. Your son will bring nada but misery to all. Save yourself, and the Kurus while there is still time!”
However, bounded by his fatherly love for his first born, the king did not heed to their wise words. Duryodhana was born exactly a day before Bheema’s birth in the forest. Right from his childhood, Duryodhana showed a great aptitude for war and demonstrated immense strength. His flair in using weapons such as double edged swords, gadhas etc. was commendable. He had the instincts of a great fighter.
Once again, Pandu conveyed his wish to father another divine child. Kunti though recalcitrant, summoned Indra. The couple was blessed with a boy named Arjuna and it was foretold at his birth that he would be a peerless warrior, just like his divine father. Counting on such evolutionary gambits, Madri wished for children of her own. Kunti taught her the divine incantations. Madri was blessed with the twins- Nakula and Sahadeva. The five sons of Pandu lived up to the enviable credentials and promulgated wise principles. They broke the jinx of the curse that threatened their father- King Pandu.
