Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.13.3-4

tam bandhum āgatam drishtvā

dharma-putrah sahānujah

dhritarāshtro yuyutsuś ca

sūtah śāradvatah prithā

gāndhārī draupadī brahman

subhadrā cottarā kripī

anyāś ca jāmayah pāndor

jñātayah sasutāh striyah

SYNONYMS

tam — him; bandhum — relative; āgatam — having arrived there; drishtvā — by seeing it; dharma-putrah — Yudhishthira; saha-anujah — along with his younger brothers; dhritarāshtrah — Dhritarāshtra; yuyutsuh — Sātyaki; ca — and; sūtah — Sañjaya; śāradvatah — Kripācārya; prithā — Kuntī; gāndhārī — Gāndhārī; draupadī — Draupadī; brahman — O brāhmanas; subhadrā — Subhadrā; ca — and; uttarā — Uttarā; kripī — Kripī; anyāh — others; ca — and; jāmayah — wives of other family members; pāndoh — of the Pāndavas; jñātayah — family members; sa-sutāh — along with their sons; striyah — the ladies.

TRANSLATION

When they saw Vidura return to the palace, all the inhabitants — Mahārāja Yudhishthira, his younger brothers, Dhritarāshtra, Sātyaki, Sañjaya, Kripācārya, Kuntī, Gāndhārī, Draupadī, Subhadrā, Uttarā, Kripī, many other wives of the Kauravas, and other ladies with children — all hurried to him in great delight. It so appeared that they had regained their consciousness after a long period.

PURPORT

Gāndhārī: The ideal chaste lady in the history of the world. She was the daughter of Mahārāja Subala, the King of Gāndhāra (now Kandahar in Kabul), and in her maiden state she worshiped Lord Śiva. Lord Śiva is generally worshiped by Hindu maidens to get a good husband. Gāndhārī satisfied Lord Śiva, and by his benediction to obtain one hundred sons, she was betrothed to Dhritarāshtra, despite his being blind forever. When Gāndhārī came to know that her would-be husband was a blind man, to follow her life companion she decided to become voluntarily blind. So she wrapped up her eyes with many silk linens, and she was married to Dhritarāshtra under the guidance of her elder brother Śakuni. She was the most beautiful girl of her time, and she was equally qualified by her womanly qualities, which endeared every member of the Kaurava court. But despite all her good qualities, she had the natural frailties of a woman, and she was envious of Kuntī when the latter gave birth to a male child. Both the queens were pregnant, but Kuntī first gave birth to a male child. Thus Gāndhārī became angry and gave a blow to her own abdomen. As a result, she gave birth to a lump of flesh only, but since she was a devotee of Vyāsadeva, by the instruction of Vyāsadeva the lump was divided into one hundred parts, and each part gradually developed to become a male child. Thus her ambition to become the mother of one hundred sons was fulfilled, and she began to nourish all the children according to her exalted position. When the intrigue of the Battle of Kurukshetra was going on, she was not in favor of fighting with the Pāndavas; rather, she blamed Dhritarāshtra, her husband, for such a fratricidal war. She desired that the state be divided into two parts, for the sons of Pāndu and her own. She was very affected when all her sons died in the Battle of Kurukshetra, and she wanted to curse Bhīmasena and Yudhishthira, but she was checked by Vyāsadeva. Her mourning over the death of Duryodhana and Duhśāsana before Lord Krishna was very pitiful, and Lord Krishna pacified her by transcendental messages. She was equally aggrieved on the death of Karna, and she described to Lord Krishna the lamentation of Karna's wife. She was pacified by Śrīla Vyāsadeva when he showed her dead sons, then promoted to the heavenly kingdoms. She died along with her husband in the jungles of the Himalayas near the mouth of the Ganges; she burned in a forest fire. Mahārāja Yudhishthira performed the death ceremony of his uncle and aunt.

Prithā: Daughter of Mahārāja Śūrasena and sister of Vasudeva, Lord Krishna's father. Later she was adopted by Mahārāja Kuntibhoja, and hence she is known as Kuntī. She is the incarnation of the success potency of the Personality of Godhead. The heavenly denizens from the upper planets used to visit the palace of King Kuntibhoja, and Kuntī was engaged for their reception. She also served the great mystic sage Durvāsā, and being satisfied by her faithful service, Durvāsā Muni gave her a mantra by which it was possible for her to call for any demigod she pleased. As a matter of inquisitiveness, she at once called for the sun-god, who desired couplement with her, but she declined. But the sun-god assured her immunity from virgin adulteration, and so she agreed to his proposal. As a result of this couplement, she became pregnant, and Karna was born by her. By the grace of the sun, she again turned into a virgin girl, but being afraid of her parents, she quitted the newly born child, Karna. After that, when she actually selected her own husband, she preferred Pāndu to be her husband. Mahārāja Pāndu later wanted to retire from family life and adopt the renounced order of life. Kuntī refused to allow her husband to adopt such life, but at last Mahārāja Pāndu gave her permission to become a mother of sons by calling some other suitable personalities. Kuntī did not accept this proposal at first, but when vivid examples were set by Pāndu she agreed. Thus by dint of the mantra awarded by Durvāsā Muni she called for Dharmarāja, and thus Yudhishthira was born. She called for the demigod Vāyu (air), and thus Bhīma was born. She called for Indra, the King of heaven, and thus Arjuna was born. The other two sons, namely Nakula and Sahadeva, were begotten by Pāndu himself in the womb of Mādrī. Later on, Mahārāja Pāndu died at an early age, for which Kuntī was so aggrieved that she fainted. Two co-wives, namely Kuntī and Mādrī, decided that Kuntī should live for the maintenance of the five minor children, the Pāndavas, and Mādrī should accept the satī rituals by meeting voluntary death along with her husband. This agreement was endorsed by great sages like Śatasrińga and others present on the occasion.

Later on, when the Pāndavas were banished from the kingdom by the intrigues of Duryodhana, Kuntī followed her sons, and she equally faced all sorts of difficulties during those days. During the forest life one demon girl, Hidimbā, wanted Bhīma as her husband. Bhīma refused, but when the girl approached Kuntī and Yudhishthira, they ordered Bhīma to accept her proposal and give her a son. As a result of this combination, Ghatotkaca was born, and he fought very valiantly with his father against the Kauravas. In their forest life they lived with a brāhmana family that was in trouble because of one Bakāsura demon, and Kuntī ordered Bhīma to kill the Bakāsura to protect the brāhmana family against troubles created by the demon. She advised Yudhishthira to start for the Pāñcāladeśa. Draupadī was gained in this Pāñcāladeśa by Arjuna, but by order of Kuntī all five of the Pāndava brothers became equally the husbands of Pāñcālī, or Draupadī. She was married with five Pāndavas in the presence of Vyāsadeva. Kuntīdevī never forgot her first child, Karna, and after Karna's death in the Battle of Kurukshetra she lamented and admitted before her other sons that Karna was her eldest son prior to her marriage with Mahārāja Pāndu. Her prayers for the Lord after the Battle of Kurukshetra, when Lord Krishna was going back home, are excellently explained. Later she went to the forest with Gāndhārī for severe penance. She used to take meals after each thirty days. She finally sat down in profound meditation and later burned to ashes in a forest fire.

Draupadī: The most chaste daughter of Mahārāja Drupada and partly an incarnation of goddess Śacī, the wife of Indra. Mahārāja Drupada performed a great sacrifice under the superintendence of the sage Yaja. By his first offering, Dhrishtadyumna was born, and by the second offering, Draupadī was born. She is therefore the sister of Dhrishtadyumna, and she is also named Pāñcālī. The five Pāndavas married her as a common wife, and each of them begot a son in her. Mahārāja Yudhishthira begot a son named Pratibhit, Bhīmasena begot a son named Sutasoma, Arjuna begot Śrutakīrti, Nakula begot Śatānīka, and Sahadeva begot Śrutakarmā. She is described as a most beautiful lady, equal to her mother-in-law, Kuntī. During her birth there was an aeromessage that she should be called Krishnā. The same message also declared that she was born to kill many a kshatriya. By dint of her blessings from Śańkara, she was awarded five husbands, equally qualified. When she preferred to select her own husband, princes and kings were invited from all the countries of the world. She was married with the Pāndavas during their exile in the forest, but when they went back home Mahārāja Drupada gave them immense wealth as a dowry. She was well received by all the daughters-in-law of Dhritarāshtra. When she was lost in a gambling game, she was forcibly dragged into the assembly hall, and an attempt was made by Duhśāsana to see her naked beauty, even though there were elderly persons like Bhīshma and Drona present. She was a great devotee of Lord Krishna, and by her praying, the Lord Himself became an unlimited garment to save her from the insult. A demon of the name Jatāsura kidnapped her, but her second husband, Bhīmasena, killed the demon and saved her. She saved the Pāndavas from the curse of Maharshi Durvāsā by the grace of Lord Krishna. When the Pāndavas lived incognito in the palace of Virāta, Kīcaka was attracted by her exquisite beauty, and by arrangement with Bhīma the devil was killed and she was saved. She was very much aggrieved when her five sons were killed by Aśvatthāmā. At the last stage, she accompanied her husband Yudhishthira and others and fell on the way. The cause of her falling was explained by Yudhishthira, but when Yudhishthira entered the heavenly planet he saw Draupadī gloriously present there as the goddess of fortune in the heavenly planet.

Subhadrā: Daughter of Vasudeva and sister of Lord Śrī Krishna. She was not only a very dear daughter of Vasudeva, but also a very dear sister to both Krishna and Baladeva. The two brothers and sister are represented in the famous Jagannātha temple of Purī, and the temple is still visited by thousands of pilgrims daily. This temple is in remembrance of the Lord's visit at Kurukshetra during an occasion of solar eclipse and His subsequent meeting with the residents of Vrindāvana. The meeting of Rādhā and Krishna during this occasion is a very pathetic story, and Lord Śrī Caitanya, in the ecstasy of Rādhārānī, always pined for Lord Śrī Krishna at Jagannātha Purī. While Arjuna was at Dvārakā, he wanted to have Subhadrā as his queen, and he expressed his desire to Lord Krishna. Śrī Krishna knew that His elder brother, Lord Baladeva, was arranging her marriage elsewhere, and since He did not dare to go against the arrangement of Baladeva, He advised Arjuna to kidnap Subhadrā. So when all of them were on a pleasure trip on the Raivata Hill, Arjuna managed to kidnap Subhadrā according to the plan of Śrī Krishna. Śrī Baladeva was very angry at Arjuna, and He wanted to kill him, but Lord Krishna implored His brother to excuse Arjuna. Then Subhadrā was duly married with Arjuna, and Abhimanyu was born of Subhadrā. At the premature death of Abhimanyu, Subhadrā was very mortified, but on the birth of Parīkshit she was happy and solaced.

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