Kunti
Kunti, also known as Pritha, is a prominent character in the Mahabharata, an ancient Sanskrit epic poem. A princess of the Vrishni dynasty, she becomes the wife of Pandu, king of the Kuru Kingdom, and is chiefly known as the mother of the five Pandavas—having given birth to the three eldest, Yudhishthira, Bhima, and Arjuna—and raising their younger stepbrothers, Nakula and Sahadeva, as her own.
Kunti is one of the few female figures in the epic whose early life is described in detail. Born to Shurasena, she is adopted by her childless uncle, Kuntibhoja, and during her adolescence, she receives a divine mantra from the sage Durvasa, which allows her to invoke any deity and bear a child by them. Out of curiosity, she uses the mantra to invoke the sun god Surya, resulting in the concealed birth of her first son, Karna. Due to the societal stigma surrounding childbirth outside of marriage, she abandons Karna shortly after his birth.
Kunti plays a significant role in the Kuru dynasty. After marrying Pandu, who is cursed to die instantly if he engages in intercourse, Kunti uses her boon to bear Yudhishthira, Bhima, and Arjuna by invoking the gods Dharma, Vayu, and Indra, in accordance with Pandu’s request to have children through the practice of niyoga. She later shares the boon with her co-wife, Madri, who gives birth to Nakula and Sahadeva. Following Pandu’s death and Madri’s self-immolation, Kunti assumes responsibility for all five children and raises them in Hastinapura, the capital of the Kuru Kingdom. A misunderstanding on Kunti’s part results in the polyandrous marriage of Draupadi, the princess of Panchala, to all five Pandava brothers. Kunti then serves as the queen-mother of Indraprastha until the Pandavas are exiled. Prior to the Kurukshetra War, Kunti meets Karna, who had joined the opposing Kaurava side, and discloses his true parentage, urging him to join the Pandava side. Although Karna refuses to switch allegiance, he agrees to spare all of Kunti’s sons except Arjuna. Following the Pandavas’ victory, Kunti reveals Karna’s identity to them and later retires to the forest with other elders of the Kuru dynasty and eventually dies in a forest fire.
Within Hindu tradition, Kunti is venerated as one of the panchakanya, embodying ideals of female chastity. Her name is believed to possess purifying qualities, capable of dispelling sin when recited. Kunti is lauded as the epitome of dutiful womanhood, noted for her intelligence, beauty, foresight and political acumen.
Literary background
Kunti appears in the Mahabharata, one of the Sanskrit epics originating from the Indian subcontinent, which primarily narrates about conflict between two groups of cousins—the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Composed in Classical Sanskrit, the text is a composite work shaped through centuries of revisions, editing, and interpolations. The text is primarily composed between 300 BCE - 300 CE, with the oldest portions of the extant text likely date to around 400 BCE. Manuscripts of the Mahabharata exist in numerous versions, with substantial variations in the details of key characters and events. An exception is the section containing the Bhagavad Gita, which remains notably consistent across different manuscripts. Significant differences exist between the Northern and Southern recensions, with the Southern versions generally being more elaborate and extended. Scholars have undertaken the creation of a critical edition, primarily drawing from the "Bombay", "Poona", "Calcutta", and "South Indian" editions of the text. The most widely accepted version is that compiled by a team led by Vishnu Sukthankar at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, with copies preserved at Kyoto University, Cambridge University, and various institutions across India.Quickly after her introduction in the Adi Parva—the first of the eighteen books of the Mahabharata—Kunti emerges as a foundational female figure whose narrative significance sets her apart from her contemporaries, playing a central role in shaping the future course of the epic. Early in the royal genealogies, as Bhishma arranges the marriages intended to restore the Kuru lineage, three women—Gandhari, Kunti, and Madri—are brought into focus. Scholar Alf Hiltebeitel points out that it is Kunti who quickly becomes the "rising star" of the narrative skein that spans chapters 103 to 119. Kunti is uniquely privileged in this section of the text. While Gandhari and Madri are introduced more briefly, an entire adhyaya is devoted to Kunti’s childhood—making her the only woman marrying into a central royal line in either the Mahabharata or the Ramayana whose girlhood is explored in such depth. Quantitative evidence from this narrative arc underscores Kunti’s prominence: between chapters 103.9 and 119.12, the text allocates 195 verses to Kunti, compared to 85 for Madri and just 36 for Gandhari. According to James L. Fitzgerald, Kunti's main scenes in the Mahabharata all involve her premarital son Karna, and within the epic, which follows the story within a story style of narration, the account of Kunti's origin and Karna's birth has been narrated multiple times, with the most detailed one being found in the Vana Parva.
Pradeep Bhattacharya observes that Kunti’s pivotal decision in the later part of the Adi Parva—having her sons share Draupadi—not only influences the trajectory of the plot but also marks a transition in the epic’s focus from Kunti to Draupadi as the central female figure in the following books. Kunti remains largely in the background following the Adi Parva until the Udyoga Parva, the fifth book of the Mahabharata. Here, she re-emerges during Krishna’s peace mission, having multiple dialogues while blessing Yudhishthira and pursuing Karna, who has aligned himself with the Kauravas, to join the Pandava side. In last part of the eleventh book, Stri Parva, Kunti—who has remained the most reticent among the epic’s principal female figures after Kurukshetra war—finally speaks up to reveal Karna's true lineage to the Pandavas. She exits the main narrative in the Ashramavasika Parva, the fifteenth book.
Etymology
The feminine epithet Kuntī is a patronymic derivative, which the character acquired through her adoption by Kunti-bhoja. The epithet has its roots in the masculine noun Kunti, which originally referred to a group of people. This ethnonym appears in classical Sanskrit texts such as the Kathaka Samhita, Pāṇini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī, and the Mahabharata. The male variant of the epithet is also used to denote rulers or princes of this lineage.Kunti's original name is Pṛthā. According to scholar Alf Hiltebeitel, this name means 'the Wide', evoking both the goddess Pṛthivī and the description of her as a girl with "wide eyes" in the Mahabharata, reinforcing a symbolic alignment with the vastness and nurturing aspect of the Earth. Madeleine Biardeau observes that while other prominent women in the epic—such as Gandhari and Madri —derive their identities from specific geographic regions, Kunti’s name Pritha links her to the Earth as a whole, not to any one territory.
From a lexical standpoint, linguist Monier-Williams derives Pṛthā from the root pṛtha, related to pṛth, and suggest that it can also mean “the flat or palm of the hand', attested in texts such as the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa. Building on this, sociologist Irawati Karve interpreted the name to suggest a physical characteristic, writing that it "shows that she was apparently a large big-boned girl". However, Lavanya Vemsani contests Karve’s interpretation, arguing that there is neither linguistic nor textual justification for linking the meaning "palm" to Kunti’s body type. Vemsani emphasizes that the Mahabharata explicitly describes Kunti as a woman of stunning beauty, and instead interprets the palm symbolism as reflecting her supportive hand and steadfast nature, aligning it with broader themes of motherhood and nurturing stability.
Biography
Early life
Kunti, originally named Pritha, is born into the lineage of the Yadava clan. She is the eldest child of Shurasena, a chief among the Yadavas and the father of several other children, most notably Vasudeva, the father of Krishna. Shurasena had promised to give his eldest child to his childless cousin and close friend, Kuntibhoja, who was the son of Shurasena’s paternal aunt. As a result, Pritha is given in adoption by Shurasena to Kuntibhoja. Following the adoption, Pritha becomes known as Kunti and is raised in the royal household of Kuntibhoja, where she is trained in royal duties and received instruction in various disciplines, without a maternal presence. Later in life, Kunti reveals that she resents this act of adoption, recalling that she was merely playing with a ball when her father transferred her like wealth, and she felt humiliated by this decision of her family.During her adolescence, Kuntibhoja entrusts her to the care of the powerful and temperamental sage Durvasa, who arrives at the court seeking hospitality under strict conditions. Kuntibhoja, confident in his daughter's humility and devotion, promises that she will serve him faithfully. Aware of the potential consequences of offending such a volatile figure, Kuntibhoja sternly warns Kunti that any lapse in service could bring dishonour upon both his dynasty and her birth family. Despite the pressure, Kunti submits to her duties with remarkable discipline, attending to the sage with devotion, enduring his sharp speech and frequent criticisms without complaint. Over the course of a year, Kunti’s service gradually earns the satisfaction of the sage. Eventually, Durvasa offers her a boon. Though she initially expresses contentment in having pleased both him and her father, she ultimately accepts his insistence on granting her a mantra. The mantra enables her to summon any deity, who is then bound to appear and obey her command, whether willingly or not. Compelled by fear of his curse, she receives the spell. Following this, Durvasa departs, leaving Kuntibhoja astonished and deeply gratified by his daughter’s endurance and virtue.