Mandodari the wife of Ravana, the demon king of Lanka and Bhanumati the wife of Duryodhana the prince of the Kaurava dynasty, were the two women characters we come across in the great Indian epics Sri Ràmàyana and Sri Mahabharata respectively.
They were highly pious and helpless witnesses in the face of sorrows they had to suffer because their adamant, arrogant and jealous husbands trod the path of non-righteousness or adharma.
Swayamvara
Chitravarma the king of Kambhoj invited all the kings for the ‘Swayamvara’, a ceremony in which the bride selects the bridegroom of her choice, for his daughter Bhanumati. She was the most beautiful and intelligent and had gained mastery over martial arts.
Prominent kings
The prominent kings among the invitees were Duryoddhana, Karna, Shishupala, Jarasandha, Bhishmaka, Vakra, Kapotaroman, Nila, Rukmi, Sringa, Asoka and Satadhanwan. As the swayamvara commenced Bhanumati, accompanied by her close friend Supriya entered the court hall, holding a garland in her hands.
She slowly started to walk in front of the invited kings while the minister introduced one after the other. Thus, she moved ahead of Duryodhana. This rejection from Bhanumati flared up his anger and he caught hold of her hand and forcibly led her onto his chariot, and rode back to Hastinapura.
Karna defeated the other kings who challenged Duryodhana’s act of arrogance in the battle. Duryodhana justified his act as ‘kshatra dharma’ and by referring to an incident in the life of his great grandfather Bhishma wherein he abducted three princesses – Amba, Ambica, Ambalika of Kashi as brides for his stepbrothers.
Bhanumati with great concern towards the reputation of her parents and also that of the Kaurava family, at last, gave her consent to marry Duryodhana.
After Marriage
After her marriage, Bhanumati came to know about Duryodhana’s jealous, arrogant attributes, non-righteous acts and about his rivalry with Pandavas. Several times she advised him to tread the path of righteousness and to put an end to the rivalry with Pandavas. Though he loved his wife most did never care to heed her words.
As the time lapsed, one day Bhanumati understood that the negative attributes of Duryodhana which crept into his mind by birth were the hardest nuts impossible to crack. She was endowed with an apex level of mature thinking and like an ideal wife, she is reconciled to his ways, accepts him as he is and loves Duryodhana.
Bhanumati at all times took every care of the needs, comforts and pleasures of her husband Duryodhana.
Twins – Lakshmana Kumara and Lakshmana
In due course, Bhanumati became the mother of twins, a son Lakshmana Kumara and a daughter Lakshmana. She was an ideal mother too. She nurtured her two children with utmost love and care. Consequently, both Lakshmana Kumara and Lakshmana grew up into perfect individuals endowed with all ideal attributes.
Samba, the son of Jambavati and Sri Krishna abducts Lakshmana on the occasion of her Swayamvara. But Kaurava soldiers capture him and detain him in the prison. Balarama who was very angry over this waged a war against Duryodhana. But Duryodhana was in a battle with his guru. At this juncture, Bhanumati by her pleasant conversation greatly impressed Balarama and he too accepts the marriage of Samba with Lakshmana.
Bhanumati always wished victory for dharma
Bhanumati was a god-fearing pious woman. She always wished victory for dharma. At the same time, she was equally worried about the fate of her husband Duryodhana, because her strong belief was that evil deeds will invariably reap evil consequences.
After the defeat of Dharmaraja in the game of dice, when Duhshasana tried to disrobe Draupadi in the Kaurava court, Bhanumati knows well that the flames of the curse of anger and the tears of Draupadi would devastate the entire Kaurava clan. So she raised her voice against the ill-treatment of Draupadi and came running to help Draupadi, and took her away from the court into the Draupadi’s chamber inside the palace.
Devotee of Sri Krishna
Bhanumati was an ardent devotee of Sri Krishna. She strongly believed that in Dwaparayuga Lord Vishnu himself took birth as Sri Krishna. Once when Sri Krishna visited the palace of Duryodhana, Bhanumati invited him into the palace with great respect, offered him her prayers and impressed him with her rich hospitality.
Also when Sri Krishna comes to Hastinapura as an ambassador for a peace treaty between Kauravas and Pandavas, Bhanumati to avert the battle of Kurukshetra, advises Duryodhana to listen to the word of Sri Krishna.
The battle of Kurukshetra became inevitable. Bhanumati pathetically lamented at the corpses of her son and husband who lost their lives in the battle of Kurukshetra. But she never blamed Pandavas over this.
Bhanumati was a noble royal lady, who considered family reputation and the Hindu marriage system in high esteem.
who was celebrated as the wonderful mother of Pandavas, was glorified as a pure devotee of the Lord Krishna in Srimad Bhagavatam. Generally, people know Kunti Devi as the mother of Pandavas, not as a devotee. However, the topmost devotion shown by Queen Kunti is not possible for anyone else except herself. For this reason, her name was specifically mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatam.
Prayers by Kunti, which were recorded in Bhagavata Purana, were filled with nectar of devotion, flooded with knowledge and renunciation. “Vipadah santutaashashvattatratatra jagadguro – O Supreme master of universe, O Lord Krishna, Let all these calamities fall on us again and again” was an unparalleled prayer by Kunti Devi. Such a type of prayer was not recorded in any scripture. That was the uniqueness of her prayer.
Pandavas used to take shelter from Lord Krishna during all difficult periods and the Lord used to appear instantly to resolve their issues. Kunti Devi witnessed that phenomenon many times and thus she boldly declared that the calamities that make the Lord Krishna appear were certainly beneficial for her.
The audience of Lord Krishna means the disappearance of repeated birth and death. Thus, by requesting Lord Krishna for repeated calamities, she occupied a unique position in Srimad Bhagavatam.
Birth of Queen Kunti Devi
Queen Kunti Devi’s birth details are as follows. Her father was King Surasena. Surasena had ten sons and five daughters. Vasudeva was one of the ten sons, whereas Kunti was one of the five daughters. Vasudeva’s son was Lord Krishna, thus Queen Kunti became the aunt of Lord Krishna and Arjuna became Krishna’s cousin.
Lord gave her sister Subhadra to Arjuna in marriage and strengthened the already existing relationship. At the time of Vasudeva’s birth, demigods on the higher planets joyfully beat the kettledrums.
They were aware of the fact that Vasudeva, being situated in pure goodness, would become the father of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Daughters of Surasena
Prutha,
srutadeva,
srutakirti,
srutasrava, and
Rajadhidevi
were the names of the five daughters of Surasena.
Surasena gave his daughter Prutha to one of his friends, namely KuntiBhoja who did not have offspring, for adoption. Thus, Prutha became the adopted daughter of Kuntibhoja and thus became celebrated as Kunti. Later on, she married King Pandu and became the mother of powerful Pandavas.
Raja_Pandu_and_Matakunti
Pandavas always considered Lord Krishna as their life, soul, and eternal protector. In this way, both Vasudeva and Kunti Devi played very important roles in the pastimes of Lord Krishna.
Durvasa muni
Queen Kunti is considered to be the incarnation of victory potency of the Lord. Denizens of the upper planetary system used to visit her father’s palace regularly. Once Durvasa muni came as a guest to Kuntibhoja’s palace and the king arranged everything for his comfort. He engaged his daughter Kunti in his service with all reverence.
Durvasa muni was very much pleased with the service attitude of Kunti and gave a special benediction of inviting any demigod at command. Young princess Kunti wanted to test the efficacy of the boon and invited the Sun god. By the power of the mantra, the Sun God came down. Later a baby boy was born, to the Sun God and Kunti Devi who was celebrated as Karna.
However, out of public fear, she left the born child in a flowing river by keeping him in a golden box. That child was picked up by a person who maintains horses, thus the boy became known as the son of suta (maintainer of horses).
Kunti Devi leaving a born child in a flowing river by keeping him in a golden box
Later on, Kunti was married to King Pandu. Pandu was one of the sons of Vichitravirya. Dhrutarashtra and Vidura were the brothers of Pandu. Vichitravirya married two daughters of Kasiraja namely Ambika and Ambalika. But, because of an excessive sense of gratification he was affected by tuberculosis and died at a very early age.
Later, by the order of the mother, SrilaVyasadeva gave birth to Dhrutarashtra, Pandu, and Vidura from the wives of Vichitravirya and their maidservant. Bhishma was elder to Vichitravirya and thus became the elder father to Pandu and grandfather of Pandavas.
King Pandu
King Pandu married not only Kunti but also Madri. However, due to a curse, he became childless. He convinced Kunti to beget children from qualified personalities. Accordingly, Kunti invited Yama Dharmaraja and begot Yudhistir. From Vayu deva she begot Bhima and from Indra she begot Arjuna. She gave the same mantra to Madri, who invited Ashwini Kumaras and begot Nakula and Sahadeva. In this way, Pandu became the father of five sons, who were celebrated as Pandavas.
Later, Pandu died due to the previous curse leaving both wives and five sons. Madri decided to die on the pyre of her husband, but Kunti refrained from such action due to the five children. Kuntidevi along with her five sons faced so many troubles, even to the extent of death threat, due to the cunning behavior of Duryodhan and his team.
However, Lord Krishna gave all protection to her and her sons from time to time. Pandavas faced many trials from childhood till the last stage at Kurukshetra, but the series of troubles didn’t end there. Even much greater danger of possible destruction of Pandavas’ lone heir became imminent due to crazy Ashwathama.
However, Lord Krishna controlled the situation and brought complete normalcy. This incident can be considered as the climax of the trials of Pandavas and it happened under.
Battle of the Kurukshetra
At the end of the battle of the Kurukshetra war Ashwathama, the son of Dronacharya, thought of giving some notional pleasure to Duryodhan by presenting the heads of sons of Pandavas. Those boys were sleeping in the night and Ashwathama killed all of them and severed their heads to present to his master. Such a heinous act was not even appreciated by Duryodhan, but Arjuna promised to punish him with all force. He and Lord Krishna chased the miscreant on a fast-moving chariot.
Finally, they captured Ashwathama and tied him like an animal, and brought him to Draupadi. Though the killer of her sons, namely Ashwathama, was in front of her and she had all the advantage to take full revenge, she refused to punish him. She did not want to give a similar agony like her agony to the wife of Dronacharya. Then Arjuna tonsured the head of Ashwathama, took away the gem from his hair, and drove him out.
For any Brahmana, an insult is more than death. Ashwathama was thoroughly insulted and that was sufficient for him. However, that insult made Ashwathama crazier and he released a powerful weapon to kill the lone hope of Pandavas who was just in her mother’s womb. Lord Krishna was preparing to leave for Dwaraka and everyone was in the mood of separation. Abhimanyu’s wife Uttara noticed that some dreadful weapon was coming at full speed towards her just to destroy her and her womb.
She came running to Lord Krishna. “O Krishna, O Krishna, please protect me. Some fearful weapon is speeding towards me. Let it kill me, but my child in the womb should be protected” she prayed with all pitifulness. Lord Krishna immediately understood the situation and entered the womb of Uttara and started circling his club to give complete protection to the child in the womb from the dreadful weapon.
He was seen as standing outside just like all others, but he miraculously entered the womb and carried out his mission of protecting the devotee. By the mystic power of Lord Krishna, the power of weapon became nullified. The child in the womb also understood that some great personality came to protect him. He simply watched the miraculous feats of the great personality of godhead.
When the calamity disappeared like fog in the presence of the Sun, Kunti Devi approached lord Krishna along with all her sons and offered prayers to her heart’s content. She expressed her gratitude profusely and also conveyed her loving relations as well. Her prayers to Lord Krishna occupy a very important place in Srimad Bhagavatam.
She expressed many philosophical points in her prayers that can give guidance in devotional service. She very boldly requested to bestow more and more calamities so that she could receive the audience of Lord Krishna itself remove the miseries permanently. We cannot find a single instance in any scripture where a devotee was praying for miseries. Such a unique position of asking for trouble was achieved by Kuntidevi.
Finally, she asked Lord Krishna to sever the relations with his sons and other relatives, so that her consciousness could flow like a river towards the ocean called Lord Krishna. Certainly, she had perfected her life.
Kunti Devi – Playing an Important Role
At every step, Kuntidevi played a very important role. When Pandavas were in the forest, one demonic lady Hidimba wanted to marry Bhima. Kunti persuaded Bhima to accept her as wife. Similarly, when a Brahmin family, where Pandavas were taking shelter, faced trouble with Bakasura, Kunti ordered Bhima to kill that demon. When Arjuna won Draupadi with his archery, Kunti asked all Pandavas to share her. In that way, Draupadi got five husbands.
Thus,Kunti lead a very important and responsible role in the life of Pandavas and also thoroughly enjoyed the spiritual bliss. Even her last moment of life was very glorious and divine. After Yudhistir was enthroned, Arjuna stayed for a very long time at Dwaraka. When he returned to Hastinapur, he conveyed the return of Lord Krishna to His abode. Krishna’s departure came like a biggest blow to Pandavas.
Kunti overheard the news of Lord Krishna’s return to his abode when Yudhistir and Arjuna were discussing the matter. She could not bear the news of separation from Krishna and immediately left her body to reach the spiritual world. Such was the pinnacle of her devotion and love for Krishna. She prayed for unbroken love for the lord and she was blessed with the same love.
She could not think of living on the earth which was left by Lord Krishna, and thus, immediately left her body to demonstrate her love for Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna is eternal; His devotees are eternal and the glory of devotees of Lord Krishna is eternal. This is eternal truth.
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