Biography

Queen Kuntī—The Incarnation Of Success

She was the queen of a world emperor, the mother of the mighty Pāṅḍavas, the aunt of Lord Kṛṣṅa, and an exalted pure devotee of the Lord.

by Satyarāja Dāsa

THE RICH VAIṢṄAVA TRADITION from which the Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement arises includes many great female devotees. But few are as illustrious and heroic as Queen Kuntī, whom Śrīla Prabhupāda glorified as “the incarnation of the success potency of the Personality of Godhead.”

Queen Kuntīdevī emerges as a preeminent figure in ancient India and a central player in the epic Mahābhārata. Not only was she the sister of Vasudeva (Kṛṣṅa's father, making her Kṛṣṅa's aunt) and the mother of the brave and virtuous Pāṅḍava brothers, but she was the very emblem of courage and wisdom—qualities of hers that helped her family and friends endure a civil war that took the lives of millions.

Originally called Pṛthā, Kuntī was the daughter of the great Mahārāja Surasena, chief of the glorious Yadu dynasty. Political and family complications forced Surasena to place her in the care of his nephew, Kuntibhoja (hence her name), who raised her as his own. In King Kuntibhoja’s palace she learned to host important guests—such as the denizens of heavenly planets—with a culture and style now all but lost.

Once, the great sage Durvāsā attended festivities in the palace and, being pleased with young Kuntī’s faithful service, gave her a powerful mantra by which she could summon any deva (demigod) she chose. Curious about the power of the mantra, she tried to conjure up Surya, the deva of the sun. Suddenly, Surya appeared.

“O beautiful Pṛthā,” he said, “your meeting with the demigods cannot be fruitless. Therefore, let me place my seed in your womb so that you may bear a son. I shall arrange to keep your virginity intact, since you are still an unmarried girl.”

As a result of their union, Karṅa was born. Realizing that no one would understand the nature of Karṅa’s birth, and fearing the wrath of her parents, Kuntī arranged to put the child in a basket of reeds and set it afloat in the Yamunā, hoping that someone would find her child and give him a good home. A charioteer named Adhiratha rescued the child and raised him.

Marriage to Pāṅḍu

When Kuntī came of age, she married Pāṅḍu, king of Hastināpura (now Delhi), who had another wife, named Mādrī. One day, while hunting in a forest, Pāṅḍu came upon two copulating deer. Taking bow and arrow in hand, he heartlessly aimed and fired. But as his arrows pierced their bodies, they showed their true forms as forest sages. The sages cursed Pāṅḍu: If he were to ever try to have intercourse with either of his wives, he would die.

Grief-stricken, Pāṅḍu decided to take sannyāsa, the renounced order of life. But Kuntī and Mādrī threatened to commit suicide if he did so. Still, without the ability to father children, Pāṅḍu felt he could not rule. He knew the importance of producing an heir to continue the dynasty. Perplexed, Pāṅḍu and his wives prayed for a solution to their dilemma.

Finally, Kuntī told Pāṅḍu and Mādrī of the boon she had received from Durvāsā Muni. She would call devas, she said, to sire children in her womb. Pāṅḍu would have divine children, and the kingdom would be saved.

First, Pāṅḍu asked her to call the deva Dharmarāja, and Yudhiṣṭhira was born. She then called for Vāyu (air), and Bhīma was born. When she called for Indra, the king of heaven, Arjuna appeared in this world. Pāṅḍu wanted Mādrī to have children too, and so, using Kuntī’s mantra, she gave birth to twins, Nakula and Sahadeva.

Pāṅḍu died at an early age, and Mādrī followed him, leaving Kuntī to care for the five children, known as the Pāṅḍavas.

As the boys grew into manhood, they trained as kṣatriyas, members of the warrior class. When their cousins—the one hundred sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, known as the Kauravas—unlawfully contended for the throne, the Pāṅḍavas showed patience and tolerance. But when the Kauravas persisted, the Pāṅḍavas could tolerate no more, and the great Mahābhārata war ensued.

On the eve of the war, Kuntī realized that any real danger to her five sons would come from Karṅa, who was as qualified as the Pāṅḍavas and was fighting in the opposing army. She therefore spoke to him, her first child, telling him the truth of his birth, which until then had been her secret. She begged him to change affiliation and fight on the side of his halfbrothers. But Karṅa refused to do this on principle: he had vowed to kill Arjuna.

Still, Karṅa swore that he would not kill any of the other Pāṅḍavas. He tried to console his mother by explaining that if he or Arjuna died in battle, she would still have five sons, the number to which she had become accustomed. Naturally, as a mother, Karṅa’s words hardly consoled her.

Only after the war, in which Karṅa was slain, did Kuntī reveal to the Pāṅḍavas the truth of Karṅa’s birth, and she made them vow to give him a fitting farewell. The shocked but victorious Pāṅḍavas did what they could to satisfy their grieving mother.

Though Queen Kuntī endured poignant and heart-rending pain—the curse of her husband, his early demise, the death of her firstborn at his brother’s hands, the secret of his identity, which she had kept from her children—she lived as an exemplary queen, with honor, culture, and wisdom.

Although Queen Kuntī was Lord Kṛṣṅa's aunt, she knew that He was in fact the Supreme Personality of Godhead, she knew of His mission to rid the earth of demoniac military powers and establish righteousness (as explained in Bhagavad-gītā 4.7–8), and she knew that He would fulfill His mission through the Mahābhārata war. Kuntī’s eloquent soliloquies in this regard are recorded in scripture.

Kṛṣṅa accomplished His purpose by orchestrating the destruction of the evil Kauravas and placing Yudhiṣṭhira on the throne, allowing the Pāṅḍavas many years of righteous rule.

His work done, Kṛṣṅa prepared to leave Hastināpura, adding to Queen Kuntī’s heartbreak. She approached Kṛṣṅa on His chariot and tried to persuade Him to stay with her and her family, on the pretext of His protecting the Pāṅḍava government from vicious reprisals. In fact, though, it was out of pure love that she wanted Him to stay.

“O my Lord,” she prayed, “are You leaving us today, though we are completely dependent on Your mercy and have no one else to protect us, now when all kings are at enmity with us?” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.8.37)

Kuntī proceeds to explain the philosophy of Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Her prayers to the Lord have since become famous, echoed by saintly persons in the Vaiṣṅava tradition throughout history. Rather than beseech the Lord for mercy, to obliterate her pain or assuage her suffering, Kuntī begs for repeated miseries to befall her, assuring her of the Lord’s company.

“My dear Kṛṣṅa, Your Lordship has protected us from poisoned cake, from a great fire, from cannibals, from the vicious assembly, from sufferings during our exile in the forest, and from the battle where great generals fought.… I wish that all those calamities would happen again and again so that we could see You again and again, for seeing You means that we will no longer see repeated births and deaths.” (1.8.24–25)

In Queen Kuntī’s simple outpouring of devotion, recorded in both the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the Mahā-bhārata, one can find the essence of Kṛṣṅa conscious wisdom. Even in just the two verses quoted above we see dependence on the Lord, knowledge of His identity as Kṛṣṅa, and knowledge of the soul and reincarnation. Her single-minded devotion has served as the ideal for devotees of Kṛṣṅa throughout history: “O Lord of Madhu [Kṛṣṅa], as the Ganges forever flows to the sea without hindrance, let my attraction be constantly drawn unto You without being diverted to anyone else.” (1.8.42)

Satyarāja Dāsa is a disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda and a regular contributor to Back to Godhead. He has written many books on Kṛṣṅa consciousness. He and his wife live in New York state.