The deity called upon first was Yama the god of truth and Death in the darkness of
the forest Yama responded to continues chanting and gave her son who would be
the very embodiment of virtue and patience
Pandu was beyond himself with happiness he named his first son Yudhishthir he
would keep calm even in the heat of battle in the years to come
Yudhishthir would become the mental rock that his brothers rely upon in
times of turmoil Kunti then called upon Vayu dev the wind God his stormy
embrace give kunti son who would be as strong and as fast as the wind itself
when kunti was giving bheem to Pandu she dropped him but when Pandu saw that
the babies fall had shattered a rock
he was pleased with Vayu's gift
they named their second son Bheem
Bheem would gain Fame and be known all over the world as a hero of unmatched
strength and courage after this kunti spoke the mantra once more and called
upon Indra the king of the Davis the night spent with indra give her son
destined to be one of the greatest warriors the world had ever known when
Pandu beheld his third son he was struck by the child's expression he
taught the boy had an archers eyes and became convinced that the world will
come to acknowledge his talent one day Pandu and kunti named their third son
Arjun after arjun's birth Kunti made it clear that she would not mother
anymore sons despite Pandu's many please
she refused to use the mantra again Madri however was still without
children and kunti agreed to help her become a mother under a night sky full
of stars kunti spoke the mantra and someone ashwin twins for madri as a
result of our time with the celestial brothers madri had two most beautiful
sons
with his five sons pandu spend a joyful time in the forest. Yudhishthira
arjun and bheem trained with the forest dwellers while Nakul and sahdev grew
in the care of kunti and Madri. Pandu almost forgot about the misfortune that had
visited him recently but the curse was inescapable
one day when Kunti returned from a journey to the forest she found that
Pandu was no more in a moment of passion and had lost control and forced himself
upon Madri his death which had been waiting in the shadows all this while
finally took him away when Pandu was cremated Madri chose to enter the
flames herself in order to share her husband's fate Hastinapur lost yet
another son and with him but daughter as well
After the death of her husband Kunti could not bear the sight of their silvan home anymore.
It reminded her of all that she had lost here.
After spending a few more months in the forest
she said her goodbyes and left for Hastinapur with the five sons of Pandu.
For the pandavas,
Kunti was everything in the world now.
When word reached Hastinapur that in Pandu’s forest home, Kunti was pregnant with the child
of a deva, Gandhari grew nervous. After all, the eldest born child in the family would
inherit the throne of Hastinapur.
But Gandhari became pregnant with Dhritarashtra’s child soon enough
Her pregnancy however, was a troubled one
She stayed in bed and suffered great pain
she had nightmares about creatures from hell.
The day she gave birth was the saddest days of her life
What emerged from her womb was not a child
It was a large lump of putrid flesh that had no life in it.
Gandhari, who had been blessed by Ved Vyasa and expected to become the mother of one hundred sons,
was devastated.
In her despair, Gandhari ordered a dasi to take the lump of flesh and cast it into the forest
She did not want to be reminded of her misfortune, much less face it.
This was the moment Ved Vyasa returned to bring his prophecy to life.
He forbade the dasi from harming what had come out of Gandhari.
He assured the weeping Queen that his word will not be in vain.
She will have a hundred sons.
In a chamber of the Hastinapur palace, Vyasa divided the lump into a hundred pieces.
He got the dasi to prepare one hundred and one vats of oil
In every vat, he immersed one piece of the lump.
In these vats, the future of the Kuru clan began to take shape.
As Gandhari’s children came into being inside those vats, ill omens began to be seen around Hastinapur.
When the vats broke and Gandhari beheld her eldest-born son Duryodhana, her blindfold
prevented her from seeing what was plainly visible to everyone around her.
There was something demonic about her one hundred sons.
They were sons who could be only loved by a blind father and a mother who had forsaken sight
Dhritarashtra and Gandhari were happy parents with dreams that
one day Duryodhan would become King
Into their happy world came Kunti with her 5 sons
The people of Hastinapur welcomed their Prince's
and were happy about the fact that Pandu's sons were alive and well
The coming of the Pandavas was a terrible blow to Duryodhana.
While the five sons of Pandu were loved by everyone, Duryodhana found Bheem particularly annoying.
It seemed to him that he had become grandfather Bhishma’s new favourite. Duryodhan felt left out
and his isolation quickly took the form of hatred.
In his anger, Duryodhan once made the mistake of challenging to Bheem to a wrestling match.
Much to his disappointment, he found that he was no match for the Pandav’s might.
The fight hurt him both inside and out.
He was no longer the centre of Hastinapur.
In the days that followed, Duryodhana watched in sullen silence
as Bheem enjoyed his life in the palace and gathered even more admirers.
The hatred in his heart had grown silent. But it had also grown much stronger.
It was at this point that Duryodhan’s uncle – Queen Gandhari’s brother Shakuni – became
a mentor to him. He understood the fire that raged in the prince’s heart.
He told Duryodhan that the Pandavas were pretenders to the throne and they would take Hastinapur from him if
he did not destroy them first. Upon Shakuni’s advice, Duryodhan organized
a lakeside retreat and respectfully invited the Pandavas. His intention was to make the
Pandavas lower their guard and unsuspectingly fall into his poisonous trap.
The food that Duryodhana served the Pandavas at the retreat was delicious. Bheem in particular
ate all he could. What the Pandavas did not know was that Duryodhan had laced the delicacies
with sleep-inducing herbs. After having his fill, Bheem decided to take
a nap by the lake. He quickly fell into a deep sleep and missed out on the games the
other boys were playing near the camp. After sunset, when everyone else had returned
to their tents, Duryodhana put the final part of his plan into action. He tied up Bheem’s
hands and feet before pushing the sleeping Pandava into the lake.