Book 2/Chapter 6/1:71
On the birth of the Pândavas
1-12. Sûta said :—Thus S’antanu married
Satyavatî; two sons were born to her and they died in course of time. Out of Vyâsa Deva's semen, Dhritarâstra was
born. Ambikâ Devî, the mother of Dhritarâstra closed
her eyes on seeing Veda Vyâsa; hence Dhritarâstra was born blind.
Seeing Dhritarâstra blind, Satyavatî asked
Vyâsa to go to Ambâlikâ (Pându's mother); the princess Ambâlikâ, mother of
Pându turned pale at the sight of Vyâsa; hence her son became of a pale colour
out of Vyâsa's wrath. Hence the name of
the son was Pându.
Next the maid servant, expert in the
science of amorous pleasures, satisfied Vyâsa; hence her son Vidura was born of
Dharma's part and became truthful and holy.
Though Pându was younger, the ministers
installed him on the throne. Dhritarâstra
could not become king, as he was blind. By
the permission of Bhîsma the powerful Pându obtained the sovereignty; and the
intelligent Vidura became his minister. Dhritarâstra
had two wives Gândhâri and Sauvali; this Sauvali was Vaishyâ; she was engaged
in the household affairs. The king Pându
had two wives, too; the first was Kunti, the daughter of Sûrasena; and the
other was Mâdri, the daughter of the Madra king. Gândhâri gave birth to one hundred beautiful
sons; Vais'yâ Sauvali gave birth to one beautiful son named Yuyutsu. While Kunti was a virgin, she gave birth,
through the medium of the Sun, the lovely Karna; next she became the wife of
Pându.
Hearing this, the Risis said :-- “O Muni
Sûta! What are you saying ? First
Kunti brought forth a child and afterwards
she was married to Pându; this is wonderful, indeed! How was Karna, born of Kunti, unmarried? and how came Kunti to be married afterwards? describe all these in detail.”
13-35. Sûta then said :-- “O Dvija! While Sûrasena's daughter Kunti was a virgin
girl, the king Kuntibhoja asked for Kunti that she might become her girl and
Sûrasena gave her to the king Kuntibhoja who brought up this beautifully
smiling girl. He put to her the service
of Agni of Agnihotra. Once, on an
occassion, Durvâsâ Muni, engaged in the vow, lasting for four months, came
there; Kunti served him during that period; the Muni became greatly pleased and
gave her a very auspicious, mantra, by virtue of which any Deva, when called
upon by that mantra will come to Kunti and satisfy her desires.
When the Muni went away, Kunti, remaining
in her house, wanted to test the accuracy of the mantra and asked within
herself “What Devatâ to call upon.” Seeing the God Sûrya had arisen in the sky,
Kunti uttered the Mantra and invoked him.
The Sun, then, assuming an excellent human form, came down from the
Heavens and appeared before Kunti in the same room. Seeing the Deva Sun, Kunti became greatly surprised
and began to shudder and instantly became endowed with the inherent natural quality
of passion (had menstruation). The
beautiful-eyed Kunti, with folded palm; spoke to Sûrya Deva standing before :--
“I am highly pleased to-day seeing Thy form;
now go back to Thy sphere.”
Sûrya Deva said :-- “O Kunti! What for you called me, by virtue of the
Mantra? Calling me, why do you not
worship me, standing before you? O
beautiful blue one! Seeing you, I have
become passionate; so come to me. By
means of the mantra, you have made me your subservient so take me for
intercourse.”
Hearing this, Kunti said :-- “O Witness of
all! O knower of Dharma! You know that I am a virgin girl. O Suvrata!
I bow down to you; I am a family daughter; so do not speak ill to me.”
Sûrya then said :-- “If I go away in vain, I will be an object of great shame,
and, no doubt, will be laughed amongst the gods; So, O Kunti! If you do not satisfy me, I will immediately curse
you and the Brâhmin who has given you this mantra. O Beautiful one! If you satisfy me, your virginity will
remain; nobody will come to know and there will be born a son to you, exactly
like me.” Thus saying Sûrya Deva enjoyed the bashful Kunti, with her mind
attracted towards him; He granted her the desired boons and went away.
The beautiful Kunti became pregnant and
began to remain in a house, under great secrecy. Only the dear nurse knew that; her mother or
any other person was quite unaware of the fact.
In time, a very beautiful son like the second Sun and Kârtikeya, decked
with a lovely Kavacha coat of mail and two ear-rings, was born there. Then the nurse caught hold of the hand of the
bashful Kunti and said :-- “O Charming one!
What care can you possibly have as long as I am living.”
Kunti then,
placed the son in a box and said :-- “O son!
What shall I do? Being afraid of
shame, I am leaving you, though you are dear to me as my life itself! I am exceedingly fortunate that I am casting
aside this all auspicious son. May the
attributeless Bhâgavatî Ambikâ, the World Mother and the Lady of all, endowed
with attributes, protect Thee! May
Kâtyâyani, the giver of all desires, feed you with Her milk! Alas! I
am quitting you, born of Sûrya’s semen in this solitary forest like a vitiated
wanton woman. I do not know, when shall
I see your lotus like beautiful face, dearest to me like myself. Alas! I
never worshipped in my former birth S’ivânî, the mother of the three worlds; I
never meditated Her lotus like feet, the Giver of all happiness; hence I am so
very unfortunate. O Dear son! I must perform great tapasyâ to expiate for
this terrible sin, that I knowingly commit in relinquishing you in the forest.”
36-48. Sûta said :-- Thus saying to the son within
the casket, Kunti gave over that to the hands of her nurse, terrified, lest
some one might see her. Kunti then
bathed and remained with a fearful heart in her father's house. A carpenter (charioteer?) named Adhiratha got
accidentally that casket floating in the Ganges. The carpenter's wife Râdhâ, prayed for the
son and nourished him under her care. Thus
nourished in the carpenter's house, the famous Kunti's son Karna became a very
powerful warrior.
The king Pându then married Kunti in a
Svayamvara, a marriage in which the girl chooses her husband from among a
number of suitors, assembled together. And
the all auspicious daughter of the king of Madra became also the second wife of
Pându.
Once, on an occasion, the powerful Pându,
while hunting in the forest killed a Muni, in the form of a deer, engaged in
the act of co-habitation, thinking it to be a deer. The dying Muni became inflated with wrath,
cursed Pându :-- “If you co-habit, certainly you will die.” Thus cursed by the
Muni, Pându became very sorrowful and abandoned his kingdom and began to live
in the forest. O Munis! His two wives Kuntî and Mâdrî, followed their
husband as chaste women do, to serve him in the forest. Dwelling in the hermitage of the Munis, Pându
listened to the Dharma S’âstras and practised severe penance. Once while he was listening to the religious
discourses of the Munis, he heard unmistakeably the Munis telling that the man
who is sonless can never go to the Heavens; so he must get a son somehow or
other. The Pundits declare that the sons
born of the father's semen, the sons born of their daughters, the Ksettraja,
the Goloka, the Kunda, the Sahoda, the Kânîna, the Krîta, one obtained in the
forest, or one offered by another father, unable to nourish his son, all are
entitled to inherit the wealth of the father; but the sons, enumerated
successively are more and more inferior.
N.B.: Ksettraja - of a son, the off spring
of the wife by a kinsman appointed to procreate issue to the husband. Goloka - Bastard child of a widow. Kunda - a child born in adultery. Sahoda - the son of a woman pregnant at the
time of marriage. Kânîna - the son born
of a young and unmarried woman. Krîta –
purchased.
49-52. Hearing this, Pându spoke to the lotus-eyed
Kunti to procreate sons for him soon by a great ascetic Muni :-- “By my order,
you will not incur any sin in doing this.
I heard that in ancient times the high souled kin Saudâsa got son from
Vas'istha.” Kunti, then spoke to the
king :-- “O Lord! I know one Siddha
mantra; it was given to me before by the Muni Durvâsâ. Whichever Devatâ I will invoke by that
Mantra, he will instantly come to my side, controlled by that Mantra.”
53-71. At the request of the husband, Kuntî invoked
Dharma, the best of the Devas; and after being impregnated by him, gave birth
to Yudhisthira. Then she got through Pavana
Deva, the son Vrikodara; and through Indra the Lord of the Devas, Arjuna. Thus, in every year, Kunti gave birth to one
son and so in three years she gave birth to three very powerful and mighty sons.
At this Màdri spoke to her husband :-- “O
king, the best of the Kurus! What shall
I do now? Kindly suggest to me the means
of procreating sons; O Lord, remove my pain.” Pându asked Kunti for this;
Kunti, moved with pity, gave her the mantra, so that she might get one son. Then the beautiful Mâdrî, invoked the twin
As'vin under the advice of her husband and got a pair of twins Nakula and
Sahadeva through them.
O Munis!
Thus five Pândavas were born successively in every following year to the
wives of Pându by the seed of the Devas.
Once on a time Pându, whose end was drawing nigh became very passionate
at the sight of Mâdrî in that solitary hermitage. He, though forbidden repeatedly by Mâdri,
warmly embraced her, as if dictated by the great destroyer, and fell to the
ground. As the creeper falls down when
the tree is felled, so Mâdrî dropped on the ground and began to cry violently. Having heard the wailings of Mâdrî, Kunti and
the five sons of Pându came there weeping and crying; a tumult then ensued and
the great Munis also appeared on the scene.
Then those Munis, practising great vows,
knew that Pàndu was dead and
performed duly, on the banks of the
Ganges, the ceremony of burning the dead.
At that time Mâdri gave over to Kunti the
charge of her two sons and followed the Satî practice along with her husband to
go to Satyaloka.
The Munis, then, performed Tarpana
ceremonies in honour of Pându and Mâdri and took Kunti and the five sons to
Hastinâpur. Knowing that Kunti has come,
Bhîsma, Vidura and the relatives of Dhritarâstra within the city, all came to
Kunti. They all asked Kunti :-- “O
beautiful one! Whose are these five
sons?” Kunti, then, remembered the curse on Pându and sorrowfully expressed :--
“ These are the Deva's sons born in Kuru family.” In order to convince the
people assembled there, Kunti invoked the Devas who came in the celestial space
above and said :-- “Yes, these are the sons born of our seeds.” Bhîsma, then,
paid respect to the words of the Devas and honoured duly the boys. Bhîsma then took the five sons and Pându's
wife to Hastinâ and gladly nourished them.
O Munis!
The sons of Prithâ were thus born and nourished by Bhîsma.
Thus ends the sixth chapter of the second
Adhyâya on the birth of the Pândavas in the Mahâpurânam S’rî Mad Devî
Bhâgavatam.
Source: Translation of The Srimad Devi Bhagvatam by
Swami Vijnanananda
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