Kunti’s following Gandhari and Dhritarashtra to the forest

on their vanavasa
Asramavasika Parva

Indian Philosophy for Leadership Excellence

Group 5
 Dhritarashtra, Gandhari and Kunti leave for the woods
 After the war is over, Pandavas regarded Dhritarashtra as their head, giving him all
the respect and the position of the King
 They gave Dhritarashtra and Gandhari all possible amenities that a king can get
along with respect, as commanded by Yudhishthira
 Draupadi used to treat Dhritarashtra and Gandhari as her own father-in-law and
mother-in-law
 In due time, Dhritarashtra decides to let go of everything and leave for the forests
to live the rest of his life,Gandhari also decides to join him
 Kunti used to treat Dhritarashtra and Gandhari as her in-laws and respected them,
she considers it her duty to serve them
 She refuses to return to the city even after multiple requests from her sons

Empathy Forgiveness Dutifulness

High level of empathy exhibited by
Yudhishthira towards Dhritarashtra and
Gandhari post the war - understanding
of their grief and sorrow, showering
respect and all amenities
Yudhishthira forgives Dhritrashtra for Their duty towards Dhritarashtra and
trying to kill Bhim, and for other sinful Gandhari is well fulfilled by
decisions of his sons, as termed by the Yudhishthira and Kunti
old king himself
 Why did Dhritarashtra want to leave?
 Dhritarashtra is aggrieved at the death of the Kauravas, whenever he thinks about
Duryodhana, his unfriendliness for Bhima increases
 Bhima too was unfriendly towards Dhritarashtra
 Dhritarashtra embraces and blesses Yudhisthira and then wants to embrace Bhima
when Krishna wisely warns Bhima to bring a Bhima Statue instead
 Dhritarashtra embraces and crushes the statue in anger
 He soon realizes his mistake and asks if Bhima is alive
 Krishna said he knew that that Dhristarashtra had deep anger for Bhima for Killing
Duryodhana, he is happy on hearing that Bhima is alive, he asks for his forgiveness
and then blesses him, his unfriendliness does subside in the years to come
 Even though he receives full respect and all amenities from Pandavas, on hearing
Bhima boasting about how he killed Duryodhana, the King gave way to
cheerlessness and sorrow
 Due to this and his own penance for installing Duryodhan to rule over the Kurus and
not following the advice of Vasudeva, due to filial affection, he decided to retire to
the woods expiate his sins

Accepting
and Decision
Intuition Learning Making
from
mistakes

Krishna’s intuition, a defining quality of If Dhritarashtra had not accepted and According to the tale, the old King could have
feminine leadership, is here at display learnt, peace would not have prevailed stopped the war but his decision making was
and it saves Bhima’s life even after the war clouded by his paternal attachments
 Please give me permission
 Dhritarashtra takes permission from the Vyasa and then Yudhisthira to leave
 Dhritarashtra calls a meeting of all the people in his palace where he tells
everyone that he tried to be a good king like his ancestors and asks for
forgiveness for any wrong doing in the past
 He asks for forgiveness from his people for the actions of his sons
 He said that –
 He has ruled for many years and is now tired
 He has no children
 He wants to do penance for the action/inaction which lead to the war
 All the Sabha members praised him for his leadership and approve of his
decision with tears in their eyes

Sense of
Stakeholder Humility Responsibili
Sensitivity -ty

While the old King could have left He bows before his people to ask for He asks all his disciples to protect
without a word, he ensured buy-in from forgiveness before departing from Yudhishtira, the Kuru King and look
his people and from everyone who them. Even after losing his sons, he after him in prosperity and in stress
could be affected by his departure accepts their sins as his and apologizes
When their mother decides to leave..

 Yudhishthira seeing his mother leave, request her to stay and not to lead a life
of hardship and penance
 Kunti, doesn’t stop and continues to hold Gandhari’s hand to help her with the
way
 Kunti then replies saying-
 They all should remember the fallen hero including Karna, their brother
 Her heart is now burden by the grief of Karna and her not being a great
mother to him
 Thus, her heart seeks penance and that she wants to fufill her duties by
serving her in-laws
 Kunti asks Yudhishthira to take care of all her sons and the kingdom

 “I shall live in the woods with Gandhari, besmearing my body with filth,
engaged in the performance of penances, and devoted to the service of my
father-inlaw and mother-in-law”
Kunti Karan samvada

 Through my folly that hero has been slain in the field of battle
Why? – Karan Kunti Samvada
 I am very much to blame for not having proclaimed the truth about the birth
of Surya's child
 After Krishna’s efforts to peace fail, Kunti decides, “ I will today disclose the
truth and seek to draw his heart towards the Pandavas”
 Surya, himself validates Kunti’s words
 Karna, remains devoted to the truth and says, “ How can I render the
friendship of Dhritarashtra’s sons utterly futile”
 Even though he questions Kunti’s role in his life as a mother, he also promises
her, “ I will not abandon kindness and hence except Arjun, your other sons
will not be slain by me.”
 There shall always be 5 Pandavas
Pandava’s reaction and kunti’s answer
Yudhishthira :
'Formerly, when we were about to set out of Hastinapore for the woods, O thou of
agreeable features, it was thou who, reciting to us the story of Vidula's instructions to her
son, excited us to exertion.Where now is that understanding of thine about which I had
heard from Vasudeva? Dost thou wish now to fall away from those Kshatriya practices
about which thou hadst instructed us?
Bhima :
When, O Kunti, sovereignty has been won, and when the time has come for thee to enjoy
that sovereignty thus acquired by thy children, when the duties of royalty await discharge
by thee, whence has this desire got hold of thy mind?
We were born in the woods. Why then didst thou bring us from the woods while wewere
children?
 I excited you all as you all were cheerless, seeing that your kingdom was wrested by you
in a match of dice, seeing that you all fell from happiness instilled courage and high
thoughts into your minds
 I encouraged you in order that the sons of Pandu might not be lost, in order that their
fame might not be lost
 As far as I am concerned, I before this, enjoyed the great fruits of that sovereignty
which my husband had acquired. I made large gifts.
 It was not for my sake but for yours that I had called upon you to follow that advice
 I wish to attain, felicity by my penances and by rendering obedient service to my father
in law and mother in law
 The final departure
 Yudhishthira tells Dhritarashtra that when he is aggrieved, sovereignty
does not please him
 He accepts of being ignorant of the grief that Dhritarashtra has gone
through
 He also says that he does not want the kingdom and feels like it is a
disease
 If Dhritarashtra leaves, he swears to leave along with him to the forest and
compares Gandhari to his own mother Kunti
 Pandavas also try to stop Kunti from going saying that they needed all of
them in the kingdom
 But all 3 are adamant and say that since they are the past, they have to
leave for the present to takeover
 Finally, Pandavas give up and allow them to leave

Resolution
Servant
and
Determinati
An epitome
of feminine Major Persuasive
SKills Leadership
leadership
on
learnings from Organizatio
Inspiring Respect for nal
and
Motivating
Communica
tion Skills Queen Kunti Others Anasakti Citizenship
Behavior