Kunti's Rescue Act!

It was a fatal night. Her dark body, mesmerizing as it was stood in front of the brothers, not in reality but in thoughts. They twitched at every sway of her hips. She was born as destiny’s child and now was her chance to finally fulfill her father’s wishes.

It was the night before Draupadi’s Swayamvar. She was to choose her own husband. Yudhishthira was struggling to keep up his usually restrained self, and kept dreaming about her the whole night. Bheema would fell demons with ease, but her thoughts and the fear of not winning her made him look like a child. Nakula and Sahdeva, forever obedient to their elder brothers and wanting their good could not avoid a slight selfishness that night. It was written in the stars that she would be Arjuna’s, but that was hardly a consolation for him under the silver shafts of moonlight. The Pandava brothers for once stood divided!

Draupadi’s father Drupada was in a fix. He ‘knew’ that fate would conspire to make Arjuna the husband, but he could not be sure. Competing for the prize were also Karna, Duryodhana and Dussasana, among the finest archers the world had ever seen. And indeed on the day of the Swayamvar they would all gather as would the Pandavas in their disguise. Karna was denied Draupadi’s love as he was a ‘son of a charioteer’, or so she thought. Thus hurt would rankle him throughout his life, and would have devastating consequences. As Fate had it, Arjuna was adjudged the winner of the archery contest and Draupadi was his wife; much to Drupada and her own relief.

Draupadi would go on to divide the house of the Kurus as no one else. She added venom to a fire already burning, but the poison would end up destroying the entire house and indeed all of Kshatriya kind. This was pretty much her role, as she was born to aid Krishna in bringing about the Kaliyuga.

But has Kunti’s crucial role as a peacemaker been ignored? It was as if she intervened to stop the Pandavas themselves breaking up over Draupadi. Bheema, Yudhishthira, Nakula and Sahdeva all desired her. Bheema ended up as possibly her biggest lover, always there when it mattered. In the Kuru Sabha after the dice game, he was the only one to stand up for her dignity and honour. Kunti’s singular act was to speak out the words- “divide the alms equally among you”. Did she actually not know what the alms were?

The brothers thus ‘divided’ Draupadi equally among themselves. She was now common to all five of them. The envy of The Kauravas would lead to a cataclysmic earth-shattering war. What would have happened had Kunti not intervened? Perhaps envy would have torn the Pandavas right through. It is speculation but maybe Bheema’s Gada would then challenge Arjuna’s Gandiva. Or maybe, Bheema would have joined Karna to fight Arjuna!!! Unthinkable it seems, but then again we saw what then happened to Duryodhana and Karna. Self destruction reigned in. Amazing to think of what all could have happened, but to me Kunto remains the unsung hero (ine) of the Mahabharata War. Prudence or maybe luck ensured that she would save her own sons from strangling each other out, long before the end of the Yuga.