M119 - Kindama Curse on Pandu

After establishing his power over the earth, King Pandu retired to the forest along with his two wives, Kunti and Madri. There they lived in opulence and enjoyed the beautiful wooded areas at the base of the Himalayan mountains.He wandered in the forest like the Iravata (the white elephant owned by Indra) accompanied by two she-elephants.  People who dwelled in the forest considered him to be God himself wandering among them. As per the command of Dritharashtra, people supplied Pandu  with many things  for his needs.

One day, Pandu, while roaming about the forest, saw two deers that seemed to be engaged in each other companionship. Pandu pierced them both with a sharp arrow. The animal was not actually a deer but a sage's son of great ascetic merit, who was enjoying his mate in the form of a deer. When pierced in this way, the deer fell uttering cries in an agonizing voice.


In great pain the deer chastised King Pandu, 'O King, even men that are slaves to lust and anger and who are ever sinful never commit cruel acts such as this. Why have you pierced me with arrow while I was enjoying with my wife?'. 'Kings engage in the sport of killing deer is the same way as they kill opponents of region, Pandu replied. 'You should not reproach me for a sin done in ignorance. Animals of this species are killed in open or hidden from view. Formerly, the sage Agastya, while engaged in the performance of sacrifice, killed every deer in the forest and offered it in sacrifice to the heavenly gods. You have been killed for the same reason. Seeing that I am following in the footsteps of the great sages, why do you reproach me?'.


The deer replied saying, ' I do not blame you for slaying a deer. But instead of acting so cruelly, you should have waited till the act was complete. I am a sage named Kindama, and I was engaged in sexual intercourse with my mate, because unrestricted sex life is not allowed in human society. You have slain me without knowing that I am a brahmin, and therefore, the reaction for killing a brahmin will not come upon you. However, because you have killed me while I was enjoying my wife, certainly your fate will be like mine. When you approach your wife for pleasure, premature death will overcome you. You have brought lamentation to me when I was seeking happiness, and now I curse, grief will come to you when you seek pleasure with your wife. Pronouncing this curse, the sage, in the form of a deer, left his body and attained the heavenly regions due to his ascetic merits. 

After the sage's death, King Pandu was momentarily bewildered by such a reversal in his life and Pandu narrated this incident to his wives. The wicked, Pandu exclaimed thinking, 'even if born in pious families, are deluded by their passions. Although I am the son of the great sage Vyasa, I have engaged in the frivolous act of killing deer in the forest. How foolish I have been; the demigods have forsaken me. I now seek liberation'. 'The great impediments to salvation are the desire to beget children and the other pleasures. I shall live the life of an ascetic and bring my passions under control by severe austerities.'

Both Kunti and Madri pleaded with him that he could remain ascetic even while living with his wives and that he need not abandon them and go back to the Brahmachari way of life. They said that they would also control their passions and practice austerities along with him. He agreed to their request and said that he would live in solitude following the strictest practices of the vanaprastha way of life and that he won’t meet anyone including his relatives. After this unforeseen calamity, King Pandu gave away all his valuables including precious ornaments, costumes and other physical possessions and sent all his servants and wealth back to Hasthinapura, and he also sent the news to Bhishma and his brothers of all that had taken place. The elders in the court at Hasthinapura were sullen on hearing what had happened. Dhritarastra was deeply affected by the turn of events.

 

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