Suryadeva, Rishi Durvasa and abandonment - what should they have done?

Medha.S thumbnail
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Posted: 11 years ago
#1
Kunti is always judged because she abandoned her first born due to fear, impulse and other things that define adolescence.

But she had three sons and two step sons that she raised well; they all grew up to be fine young men. As much as I don't like her, I will give it to her as a mother. Whatever kind of human she was, whatever kind of a woman she was is not pertinent to the fact that she was a fine mother. Her sons stayed away from greed, jealousy etc. and she tried and was successful in keeping them away from it too. They were raised in a way that they were never not satisfied with whatever they had.

So why does she get targeted on the basis of a mistake she made as a teenager, teen pregnancy is frowned upon even today, especially if the girl is unmarried (and not just in India but other countries too),which results in so many atrocities, not just against the female but also the child too. New born dumped in garbage? Abortions? New born killed?

But kunti is quick to be judged. "She could have done this; she could have done that, so many options, so many alternatives blah blah."

(everyone who did not made mistakes as a youth, throw a stone at her)

What about the more mature and wiser personalities involved? Rishi Durvasa and Suryadeva, both are to be held accountable alongside her, if not more. Durvasa was a famous sage, quite elderly and intelligent and Suryadeva was, well Surydeva ...They both were more experienced, more aged than a teenage girl. They should have known better. Give a brand new Iphone 5 to a youth and tell them to not use it, see how it functions.

So what steps could these two have taken to avert the disaster?

Couldn't durvasa give the Mantra to her Guardian? Warn her that don't use it till you are ready to become a mother? Wait till marriage? What about Suryadeva?

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RosChel.Lobster thumbnail
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Posted: 11 years ago
#2
Word!! Great post 👏 Though her character is embellished in this version's of Mahabharat but she was a good mother and teacher at least for the Pandavas. ..she was competitive to Madri but brought up her sons as well wid same love which she bestowed at her other 3.
Medha.S thumbnail
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Posted: 11 years ago
#3

Originally posted by: Rushika

Word!! Great post 👏 Though her character is embellished in this version's of Mahabharat but she was a good mother and teacher at least for the Pandavas. ..she was competitive to Madri but brought up her sons as well wid same love which she bestowed at her other 3.

Yes, Madri trusted her to raise Nakula-Sahdeva well, even though there was no love lost between the two women.
And Sahdeva is considered her beloved like Arjuna is considered as Bhishma's and Yudhishtira is considered Vidura's.

RamKiSeeta thumbnail
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Posted: 11 years ago
#4
Wonderful post! Kunti was a flawed character like others in the Mahabharat, but she was not solely responsible for the abandonment of Karna. It's just that people are quick to judge women and blame them, even if others are involved in the case.

Kunti sitting quiet and letting Karna be insulted by everyone as Suta putra was wrong, yes, but he was also Surya Dev's son. Why didn't Surya Dev do anything to restore his son's respect? If Surya Dev, a God, sat quiet, then how can we fault a simple human woman, when humans do mistakes by nature?

And I agree that Sage Durvasa is also to be blamed. What kind of boon did he give a teenage girl for the service she did him? It turned out to be a boon for her later since Pandu could not have kids, but it was also a curse for the poor girl. Wasn't it Durvasa's responsibility to tell Kunti about the consequences of the mantra? He should have given her strict instructions on when to use the mantra, and also a warning not to take it lightly.

Kunti is not the only one responsible for Karna's plight. Two others were equally responsible but as usual, it's the woman who has to bear the full brunt.
Edited by JanakiRaghunath - 11 years ago
Ashwini_D thumbnail
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Posted: 11 years ago
#5
Yeah as a mother to the Pandavas, she fulfilled her responsibilities. She can also be excused, in a way, for abandoning Karna owing to her age, as the greater weight of the guilt should lie with the biological father of Karna. But what Kunti could have done was own up Karna as her son after she saw him at the contest. She must have known the injustice inflicted upon Karna time and again, but she still chose her personal reputation over her son.
She wasn't of course a negative character. But she was definitely shrewd and a politically astute person than she is given credit for. And her criticism stems more from the fact that she is portrayed as this saintly, pious woman in popular culture rather than her actual faults as a person.
Edited by ashwi_d - 11 years ago
RamKiSeeta thumbnail
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Posted: 11 years ago
#6

Originally posted by: ashwi_d

Yeah as a mother to the Pandavas, she fulfilled her responsibilities. She can also be excused, in a way, for abandoning Karna owing to her age, as the greater weight of the guilt lies with the biological father of Karna. But what Kunti could have done was own up Karna as her son after she saw him at the contest. She must have known the injustice inflicted upon Karna time and again, but she still chose her personal reputation over her son.

She wasn't of course a negative character. But she was definitely shrewd and a politically astute person than she is given credit for. And her criticism stems more from the fact that she is portrayed as this saintly, pious woman in popular culture rather than her actual faults as a person.


Agree with what you said. Kunti did not have responsibility for Karna than what she fulfilled, but the same responsibility should be fulfilled by Surya Dev also, shouldn't it? Both the father and mother are responsible for a child, but if people are afraid of blaming God because of religious consequences, then they should not blame Kunti either when both were equally responsible.

As for the highlighted part, I think people's views on popular culture differ. Popular culture also portrays Karna as this tragic hero when in the epic, it is quite different. The same people who enjoy popular culture's portrayal of Karna dislike popular culture's portrayal of Kunti. It just depends on who one's favorite character is. The favorite character will always be supported and the least favorite character will always be condemned no matter what.
Sabhayata thumbnail
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Posted: 11 years ago
#7

@ashwi bingo absolutely right especially the last part

Firstly people need to understand they is a huge differece betwen the way these characters are in the epic and the way they are in this serial huge difference
Regarding this serial version of kunti the issue is she is shown to be too good.While they are showing her to be a good mother to the pandavas they also need to show how unfair she was with Karna.Showing just one side of the coin isnt fair hence the issue with this serial's version of kunti
Now the epic's verson of kunti no issue with that .Just like janki said she wasnt a saint like no one in MB is.While she was a great mother to pandvas,brought up 5 great warriors with great values i wont ignore the fact that she was unfair with karna to the extent of being selfish she revealed his identity only when she needed him to save her sons lives or else she wouldnt have even done that.So i will see both sides while analyzing her.And say she wasnt a hero nor a villian she was a flawed human being with some graet qualities.I have way more respect for her sons than her.But i definately dont hate her nor do i like her
Medha.S thumbnail
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Posted: 11 years ago
#8
Janaki, i will discuss your first post tomorrow, preferably when i can reply from pc instead of cell.You put forth amazing points.
As a father, suryadeva should have come forward to accept his son when kunti did not.
As i said, her character is not of interest to me, what and what not she could have done has already been stated countless times.
Let us talk about the father and durvasa.
Did not kunti came to know of karna as her son through lord krishna, just before the war?
Sabhayata thumbnail
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Posted: 11 years ago
#9

Originally posted by: JanakiRaghunath


Agree with what you said. Kunti did not have responsibility for Karna than what she fulfilled, but the same responsibility should be fulfilled by Surya Dev also, shouldn't it? Both the father and mother are responsible for a child, but if people are afraid of blaming God because of religious consequences, then they should not blame Kunti either when both were equally responsible.

As for the highlighted part, I think people's views on popular culture differ. Popular culture also portrays Karna as this tragic hero when in the epic, it is quite different. The same people who enjoy popular culture's portrayal of Karna dislike popular culture's portrayal of Kunti. It just depends on who one's favorite character is. The favorite character will always be supported and the least favorite character will always be condemned no matter what.

sorry dont agree with bold it depends upoun everyone's interpretation of the epic there is no stated fact everyone interprets MB's characters in their own way.
Getting back to the topic i think kunti or any othe character should be potrayed as per the epic.What kunti did or what she dindt do just show that as per what epic says.And let people decide for themselves if kunti is responsible or not,if some one is a tragic hero or not .Show things as per the epic and that goes for all characters and let people interpret them on their own
Edited by Sabhayata - 11 years ago
Sabhayata thumbnail
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Posted: 11 years ago
#10

Originally posted by: medha00

Janaki, i will discuss your first post tomorrow, preferably when i can reply from pc instead of cell.You put forth amazing points.
As a father, suryadeva should have come forward to accept his son when kunti did not.
As i said, her character is not of interest to me, what and what not she could have done has already been stated countless times.
Let us talk about the father and durvasa.
Did not kunti came to know of karna as her son through lord krishna, just before the war?

No she knew about it after rangbhoomi incidnet only
regarding suryadev i dont think it was suryadev's decision to tell or not tell.I mean it was kunti's secret right which kunti decided to keep in order to maintain her dignity in the society so i really dont think he could have let kunti's secret out without her desire to do so.
After kunti confirmed to karna that he is her son then suryadev did confirm that fact but i guess kunti had to take the first step since keeping it a secret was her decision hence letting it out should also have been her's

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