संगर्ष (Saṅgharṣa)

कुंती: Kunti - Resilience

Beneath the sky, I cradle you tight,

A son of the sun, with radiance alike.

Forgive this heart, though I set you free,

The world won't know, but you're part of me.

She held her firstborn close to her bosom, rocking him back and forth as she sobbed. "Forgive me, please, forgive me..." she whispered into his hair, shaking uncontrollably as she finally found it in herself to let him go.

Only to see him years later, battling his own, out for blood.

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How was she to live without him?

The king that had made a place for himself in her heart, even if he did bring another to share her space in his.

But she was the answer to his prayers, the woman that could fulfil his desire for a child.

Three of the most accomplished warriors the world had ever seen. 

But destiny had been unforgiving- snatching both Pandu and Madri away.

Kunti would never forget the pain, wanting to burn herself on their pyre too.

It was just her and her five sons against the cruel, cruel world.

"Our cousins," an eleven year old Yudhishthir had said, "They hate us."

"They don't hate you, my son," she had said, "They are just adjusting to having you around."

But he was right. Their cousins hated them. Kunti was forgiving-she let them get away with poisoning her darling Bheem-but not blind to their hatred.

She hoped it would change.

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"I am Karna," the man bellowed, "The son of Adiratha and Radha, here to challenge you!"

Karna.

Her heart clenched painfully inside her chest as she watched the two men size each other up in the duelling ground.

Two brothers.

How could she hope for one to lose? The wielder of thunder stood on one end and the beacon of radiance on the other.

A mother couldn't choose.

She died a little every time she saw him, wanting to pull him close and tell him how sorry she was, to tell him that Arjun was his brother and not his enemy. That she was his mother.

What had she done to be his mother? She didn't deserve that title.

But did he deserve the discrimination of not having the same opportunities her other sons got simply because he was born to a charioteer?

Karna chose the wrong side.

She had herself to blame.

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"Whatever you've brought, split it amongst yourselves."

A woman gasped from behind her.

Kunti couldn't believe what she had said.

Split a woman? Split a wife? in five? Impossible.

Why, oh why, had she not turned around?

She had not only subjected her daughter-in-law to a lifetime of shared duty and finger-pointing, but had also bound her to a fate of endless sacrifice.