Apasmāra

After King Pandu's demise, the  sages consulting among themselves decided to take Kunti and the five sons of Pandu to Hastinapura and hand them over to Bhishma and Drhitarashtra, Accordingly, they left for Hastinapura taking Kunti, the Pandavas. Sages were not just interested in their own salvation, but in the protection and advancement of the people in general. Knowing Pandavas to be future Kings of the earth, the great sages made arrangements for them to be placed under proper guidance.   Shakuni perceived Pandavas as a challenge to his dear Duryodhan’s claim to the throne and since beginning Duryodhan has been set against them re-insisting it in Duryodhan’s mind if there’s was somebody who was the legitimate heir to the throne, it was he and not the five random kids from the jungle. The elders of the Kuru family and the subjects of Hastinapur welcomed the Pandavas with affection. Duryodhan, along with his 99 brothers, saw them as weeds ...

 After the birth of his five sons, Pandu again approached Kunti at the behest of Madri. Kunti said, "When I gave her the formula for invoking it once, she managed to obtain two sons. She has deceived me. If I give her the formula again, she will end up having more children than me. This is the way of wicked women. I was a fool to have not used the formula to get two children at a time. I beseech you not to command me to give the formula to Madri once again. Let this be a boon granted to me by you." One day, King Pandu was wandering about the woods with his wife Madri. It was springtime and the forest flowers were in bloom, casting their scent in all directions. Birds like the parrot, the cuckoo, the crane, and the peacock were singing sweetly, and the bees were humming. Bewildered by the atmosphere, Pandu became attracted to his wife, and forgetting the curse of the Sage Kindama, forcibly embraced her. Madri tried to resist the advances of her husband, but it was of no us...

Pandu began his ascetic way of life along with his two wives, Kunti and Madri. He travelled from place to place in the mountains. By virtue of his strict adherence to austerity, he became the favorite of various groups of ascetics like the Siddhas and Charanyas living in the woods. Many Rishis (sages) also adored Pandu, some treating him as their son, some as their brother and some as their friend.  Some even treated him as a Brahmarishi, a title that could be earned only by a Brahmin. One day, Pandu lamented to the sages about his fate of having to go with no children because of the curse delivered on him by sage Kindama. He said, “Men  born in this world have four obligations or debts that they owe, one to the gods, one to the rishis, one to their ancestors and one to other men.  The gods have to be pleased by performing sacrifices; the debt owed to sages can be repaid  by doing meditation and practicing asceticism, the debt owed to the ancestors can be rep...

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 ang...

 As days passed after Kunti gave birth to Karna, time has arrived for Kunti to get married, her foster father, Kuntibhoja invited princes and kings from other kingdoms to be present for svayamvara (wedding) ceremony where she has to pick her husband. The budding youthful Kunti, upon entering the assembly hall, saw the handsome Pandu, broad-chested and endowed with unsuppressable prowess. He was like the moon amidst its many luminaries. Advancing with modesty, she placed the wedding garland around Pandu's neck, and thus she accepted the Kuru prince as her beloved husband. King Kuntibhoja arranged for the wedding functions and bestowed upon Pandu a large dowry. Afterwards, Pandu took his new wife back to Hastinapura and gave her the opulence she deserved. Sometime later, Bhishma set his heart upon getting Pandu married to a second wife as a result of an alliance to avoid war. Accompanied by his army, Bhishma went to the kingdom of Madra. taking along with him several sages, Brah...

Bhishma endorsed Satyavati’s proposal to beget a son through Sage Vyasa through the process of Niyoga . Since he knew Vyasa to be an ascetic of great virtues and immense power. Satyavati thought of Vyasa and Vyasa sensing her call appeared before her instantly. After receiving Vyasa with due respect and offering him food, Satyavati requested him to beget children upon the wives of Vichitravirya, his step brother. Vyasa agreed to this request since it was sanctioned by custom. He said that the women should first be purified by observing for one year the vow to be prescribed by him. Only after that he would give them children. Satyavati pleaded with him to do it immediately since the Kuru race had been without a heir for sometime. If conception must take place this month, Vyasa replied, then the queens of Kashi must be willing to bear my ugliness, strong odor and matted locks. If they can perform these austerities, then they will give birth to noble children. Let one of the queens...