Storytelling for Week 9: Violating the Curse

I remember when Pandu came to me with the news of his curse. I knew something bad would happen and that he would eventually fail to stay away from one of his wives. It’s not that I thought he was a bad man, quite the opposite, he just loved us so much. He was a very passionate man and sometimes his passion got the better of him.

I knew that I would help him in any way I could. I bore him three godly children, and his other wife Madri bore two. We always abided by the curse never testing its limits.

(Pandu is Cursed. Image Source: Wikipedia)

I remember the day the curse was broken, I felt the moment Pandu died as if a part of my heart was being stolen away. It was as if I had a tiny hole right in my chest and I could do nothing to mend it. I knew what Pandu and Madri had done. She came running back to the palace screaming, “Kunthi, Kunthi, he is dead. Pandu is dead and it is my fault. I let the moment get to me and we did the one thing Pandu was told not to.”

“Oh Madri, I felt it the moment it happened and it was terrible for me. I can only imagine the heartbreak that you felt being with him at the time. I am so sorry you had to go through that,” I spoke calmly to Madri.

“But, I shouldn’t have let him. We shouldn’t have done that. I have ruined everything! We have lost our husband and the father of our children because I did not have it in me to stop!”

“Madri, I promise it will be okay. You are stronger than you believe and we will get through this. We have five sons who are looking at us to take care of them, we cannot give up. You must not give up!”

“You do not understand. When Pandu left this world I left with him. I can no longer be here. My time on the earth is now finished. When we send him off I will go with him. Kunthi, you must promise me you will take care of my boys, they will need a mother and you are the perfect one,” Madri begged me to help her.

I cannot say I was surprised when Madri told me this, I knew she was struggling with Pandu’s death.

The next day we built the funeral pyre. It was as tall and wide as befits a king. We laid out Pandu’s body dressed in his finest clothes. I remember watching as Madri went running towards the pyre. She really was going to end her life with Pandu. Although this made me very sad I also understood her sadness, she didn’t want to be alone in the world. I watched as she climbed the Pyre and lay down next to Pandu getting ready for their last time together on earth.

Author’s Note:

This story is based on the story of Pandu’s curse. Pandu was cursed after he killed a deer that was actually a celestial being. The deer told him that when he unites with one of his wives he would die. His wives have five children through a mantra that Kunthi was taught to summon a god. One day when walking Pandu and Madri are overcome with passion and violate the rules of the curse. Pandu immediately dies and Madri later joins him on the funeral pyre leaving her children to Kunthi.

I told this story from Kunthi’s point of view allowing us to see how it affected her as the other wife. In the book we do not see a conversation between Kunthi and Madri, so I created one that I believed would be accurate.

Bibliography:

Narayan, R. K. (1978). The Mahabharata.