A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.939

c5.939

KUNTĪ (also called Prithā and Pārshnī). 1. Daughter of the Yādava prince Sūra, king of the Sūrasenas, whose capital was Mathurā on the Yamunā. She was sister of Vasu-deva, and was given by her father to his childless cousin Kunti-bhoja, by whom she was brought up. In her maidenhood she showed such respectful devotion to the sage Dur-vāsas, that he gave her a charm by means of which she might have a child by any god she pleased to invoke. She called upon the sun, and by him had a son named Karna, but without any detriment to her virginity; still, to keep the affair secret, the child was exposed on the banks of the Yamunā. Subsequently she married Pāndu, whom she chose at a swayam-vara, and bore three sons, Yudhishthira, Bhīma, and Arjuna, who were called Pāndavas although they were said to be the sons of the gods Dharma, Vāyu, and Indra respectively. This may have happened, as is stated, from the potency of the old charm, but if so, it is strange that Mādrī, the second wife of Pāndu, should have enjoyed the same privilege, and have borne twin children to the Aswins. This difficulty, however, is got over by a statement that Kuntī imparted to her the charm. Kuntī was a discreet and devoted mother, and although rather jealous of Mādrī, she was a kind mother to her children after Mādrī was burnt on her husband’s pyre. After the end of the great war she retired into the forest with Dhritarāshtra and his wife Gāndhārī, and there they all perished in a forest fire. 2. Name of a people and country in Upper India.