कुन्त्य् उवाच
अहं ज्येष्ठा धर्मपत्नी ज्येष्ठं धर्मफलं मम ॥
अवश्यं भाविनो भावान् मा मां माद्रि निवर्तय ॥
अन्वेष्यामीह भर्तारम् अहं प्रेतवशं गतम् ॥
उत्तिष्ठ त्वं विसृज्यैनम् इमान् रक्षस्व दारकान् ॥
kunty uvāca
ahaṃ jyeṣṭhā dharmapatnī jyeṣṭhaṃ dharmaphalaṃ mama ||
avaśyaṃ bhāvino bhāvān mā māṃ mādri nivartaya ||
anveṣyāmīha bhartāram ahaṃ pretavaśaṃ gatam ||
uttiṣṭha tvaṃ visṛjyainam imān rakṣasva dārakān ||
Kunti said: "I am the elder lawful wife; the elder fruit of dharma belongs to me. Do not turn me back, Madri, from what is destined and must inevitably come. I shall follow my husband, who has gone into the power of the departed; rise you, leaving him, and guard these children."
0dbf204c13b9 · publicado 12 jul 2026, 16:41:49 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
Here begins the lofty dispute between the two wives -- which of them is to die with her husband, and which is to live for the orphans. It is telling that both aspire not to life but to death following the husband: for a faithful wife of that age, to follow her husband was the highest honor, not a sacrifice. Kunti claims her right by seniority: as the elder, it falls to her to share her husband's fate. Here is the ideal of the pativrata carried to the point of readiness to die; at the same time it must be remembered that the custom of a widow's self-immolation (sati) is an institution of that ancient age, depicted by the scripture as a feat of love rather than a prescription for all time. It is telling that Kunti, though wishing to die, still cares for the children, bidding Madri to keep them. So the scripture shows a noble contest in self-sacrifice: each wife is ready to depart, if only the other will remain to guard the orphans.