| Of precautions and strange problems
The Roots of War
 ‘Are you the solution, or the problem?’ we ask people at times. What we do not realise is that when we raise that question, there is a likelihood that we might be part of the problem we are supposed to solve. We take abundant precaution to ward off undesirable and untoward situations. It is necessary that we do so. But the strange course of Time, the great decider, keeps throwing one challenge after the other at us. Sometimes, it so happens that despite all the precautions, the problem persists not because the solution was not right but because the person who wanted to avoid a problem, became part of the same problem! Here is one such situation.
Kunti soon grew up into a young lady and King Kunti Bhoja conducted her Swayamvara, where she garlanded Pandu and chose him as her husband. Within a short time, Bhishma desired that Pandu should have a second queen too, in order to preserve the lineage of Kuru. Begetting children has been considered as one of the sacred responsibilities of a person. Parimelazhagar, the celebrated commentator of Thirukkural, mentions in his prologue to chapter 7 of Thirukkural, ‘On Obtaining Children’, that a person owes three basic duties. The duty that he owes to the sages is discharged by kELvi, or education, the duty that he owes to Gods is discharged by vELvi, or sacrifices, the duty that he owes to the ancestors is discharged by begetting Children.
This was the idea behind polygamy practised in those days. If one wife does not bear children, due to physical conditions or even premature death, the other wife might deliver. Bhishma therefore looked for a second queen for Pandu and found the bride in Madri, younger sister of Salya, the King of Madra. This is the same Salya, who by a twist of fate joined the Kauravas in the Great War, charioted Karna on the seventeenth day, appointed as the commander-in-chief and was killed by Dharmaputra on the eighteenth day of the War. Mahabharata mentions that Bhishma paid a rich dowry to Salya in order that he give his sister in marriage to Pandu.
 Pandu was the only choice to be the king of Hastinapur, since Dhrthrastra was born blind. Bhishma had crowned him before Pandu was chosen by Kunti as her husband. Within a month of his marriage with Madri, Pandu decided to discharge his duty that he owed to the kingdom, by expanding it. He undertook Dhik Vijaya and annexed large territories including Videha, Kashi, Sumbha and Pundra and came back victorious. He dedicated the rich treasures of his exploits to Satyavati, after obtaining the consent of Dhrthrastra.
With both the queens remaining childless, Pandu decided to move to the jungle, stay there for sometime with his wives, relax and come back to the kingdom. They went to the jungle with the royal retinue and stayed there happily.
Pandu loved hunting and during this stay in the jungle, he looked for game and came across a pair of deer, copulating. The Book prevents any creature from being killed during this particular time of procreation. He should have had the empathy to desist from killing the deer, considering the situation. He did not. It is not that Pandu was given to cruelty. He did so out of a sudden impulse, happy at having spotted game after a considerable time spent in search.
It turned out that the pair of deer was a Rishi by name Kindhama and his wife, who had assumed this form. The Rishi was greatly agonised that Pandu did not take the situation into consideration and that he intervened at the time of exchange of love. Even if he did not know that the deer were actually a sage and his wife, he should have respected the love that prevailed during that time, animals though they be.
‘Since you did not have the heart to at least wait for some more time, considering our condition, granting that you did not know that it was me the sage Kindhama, I curse you now. You will die the moment you indulge in the act of procreation.’
Bhishma thought that Pandu should preserve the lineage and got him to marry Madri, in addition to Kunti. Now, the strange incidents put the clock back -- to the very same condition in which Ambika and Ambalika were, with a minor difference. Though Pandu was alive - unlike Vichitravirya - and there were two queens, the Kuru Vamsa was faced with the same old challenge.
Hari Krishnan
harikrishnan@vsnl.net
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