Pandu is Cursed
A few years later Kunti married the virtuous and brave Pandu.
The young man’s life, in the company of his two wives, passed in full delight, but the shadow of Vyasa’s prediction was looming.
One spring day, while he was hunting in the forest accompanied by Kunti and Madri, Pandu saw two deer mating near some trees. At that moment, forgetting the scriptural rules that prohibit the killing of any animal in the act of mating, he shot an arrow that penetrated the male’s body. To the king’s surprise, the injured animal began to speak and said:
“I am not a deer, but a hermit who lives in these woods. Blinded by the intoxication of the hunt, you struck me while, under this appearance that I have assumed thanks to my mystical powers, I mated with my legitimate wife. You committed a grave mistake. I curse you. You will die as soon as you try to have sexual intercourse with your wives.”
The sage died moments later.
Overwhelmed by feelings of guilt for killing a Brahmana and for the curse that from that moment would prevent him from having children, Pandu, accompanied by his spouses, left the kingdom and retired to the forest.
For the Bharatas, who found themselves once again without a king, it was a great misfortune. As already mentioned, Dhritarastra was afflicted by blindness, so Bhishma was once again forced to rule, awaiting the birth of the children of one of the two grandchildren.
This is a section of the book “Maha-bharata, Vol. 1”.
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