Also known as Pridha. The wife of Pandu, and the mother of the Pandavas.

Kunti was the sister of Vasudeva, father of Krishna. Her original name was Pridha, and she and Vasudeva were the children of the Yadava Shurasena. Shurasena’s sister’s son was Kuntibhoja, who was childless. Dhurasena had promised to give his eldest daughter to Kuntibhoja. Thus Pridha was given to Kuntibhoja, and came to be known as Kunti, as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 111.

According to Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 67 verse 160, Kunti, Madri and Gandhari were born of the body parts of the devastris Siddhi, Kriti and Mati respectively.

The young Kunti was assigned the task of looking after the sages who visited Shurasena. Durvasa once visited Kuntibhoja and knowing that the sage had a bad temper, the king asked Kunti to serve him well. Once, to test Kunti, Durvasa told her that he was about to go for a bath and wanted his lunch ready by the time he got back. He then stepped out and went back in a few moments. Kunti somehow managed to ready the lunch, but it was piping hot. Durvasa wanted to check how hot it was by keeping the vessel on Kunti’s bare back. Though the vessel was indeed hot, she did not flinch. The sage was pleased and taught her a mantra which she could use 5 times, and blessed that whichever deva she prayed to using the mantra would become the father of her child, as per Kathasaritasagara Lavanakalambaka Taranga 2 and Bhashabharata Adiparva Chapter 111.

Kunti wanted to test the mantra and invoked Surya. Immediately, Surya appeared there as a brahmina human form descended from Surya. Though she was afraid of becoming a mother before marriage, he calmed her and said that she would not lose her virginity even though she would become a mother.As per Mahabharata Vanaparva Chapter 307 verse 17, Kunti asked for a son who would be born with an armour and earrings. Except for Kunti’s foster mother, no one knew this. In time, she gave birth to a boy. With her foster mother’s help, Kunti floated the baby away in a trunk on the Yamuna river. Suta, a charioteer by profession and a supporter of the Kauravas came to the river for a bath and found the baby. He took it home, to his wife Radha and they became the child’s foster parents. They named him Vasushena, as per Mahabharata Aranyaparva Chapter 302, and he became famous later as Karna, as per Mahabharata Vanaparva Chapters 305-309, and Adiparva Chapter 111.

When Kunti came of marriageable age, Kuntibhoja conducted a swayamwar. She chose Pabdu, the chandravanshi king, and moved to his kingdom in Hastinapura, as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 112.

Pandu later married another princess named Madri. They lived happily, until one day Pandu decided to go for a hunt. There, he accidentally killed a sage named Kindama who was copulating with his wife in the form of a deer. He cursed Pandu and said that if the king ever attempted intercourse with his wife, he would die. Pandu informed his wives and decided to take up sanyasa. Both Kunti and Madri threatened to commit suicide if he went ahead. Finally, Pandu and his wives started meditating in Shatashringa. After a while, Pandu asked his wives to produce sons from important personages. But his wives didn’t agree. Then, Kunti remembered the mantras that Durvasa had given her, and informed Pandu about it. After Pandu’s approval, she invoked Dharma, Vayu and Indra and thus were born Yudhishtira (Dharmaputra), Bhima and Arjuna. Since the 4th and 5th children were considered inauspicious for their parents, Kunti settled for three children as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 122 verses 77, 78. Pandu desired that the remaining mantra be used by Madri. She invoked the Ashwinis and thus were born Nakula and Sahadeva.

Once, during spring, Pandu forgot about his curse, and started mating with Madri. He died on the spot, and both the wives prepared to jump into his pyre. But their relatives and the sages advised that one remain alive to look after the children. Madri chose to die and Kunti returned to hastinapura with the 5 children, called Pandavas as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 125.

The Pandavas had many differences with their cousins, the Kauravas in Hastinapura. Kunti and the Pandavas moved to a house in Varanavat. The Kauravas had made it out of lac and burned it down. But Kunti and the Pandavas escaped through a tunnel made earlier. Bhima carried the tired Kunti on his shoulder as they traveled through the forests. A rakshasi named Hidimbi wanted Bhima to marry her. Kunti gave her assent, and to Bhima and Hidimbi was born Ghatotkacha. Vyasa consoled Kunti in the town of Ekachakra. The brahmins there also told Kunti about the problems they faced from Bakasura. Kunti got Bhima to kill Bakasura and asked the brahmins to keep it a secret. On the advice of another brahmin who arrived there, Kunti and the Pandavas proceeded to Panchala. The Pandavas attended Draupadi’s swayamwar there, and Arjuna defeated every other suitor to marry Draupadi. On reaching home, Kunti, who did not know the context, asked the brothers to share whatever they’d got. Thus Draupadi became a wife to all the Pandavas. Vidura presented many valuable gems to Kunti at Drupada’s palace. They discussed all that had happened so far and Vidura took them back to Hastinapura. Arjuna had to go on exile for a year. During that time, he married Subhadra and brought her to Hastinapura. Kunti accepted her.

Yudhishtira lost a game of dice to Duryodhana, the eldest Kaurava, and had to go into exile. Kunti stayed with Vidura. Krishna visited her once and Kunti lamented about her woes. After the exile, Duryodhana refused to give half the kingdom back to the Pandavas. Krishna encouraged the Pandavas to go to war (all this) as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 135 onwards, Sabhaparva, Vanaparva, Udyogaparva until Chapter 137.

As the war became inevitable, Kunti got restless when Vidura warned about the consequences. She went to the banks of the Ganga to see Karna. he happened to be praying, looking to the east, hands raised. She stood in his shadow, and when he saw her, they began conversing. Kunti revealed that she was his mother and asked him to join the Pandavas. Karna replied that it wasn’t possible and that he had sworn to kill Arjuna. But he promised that he would spare the other 4 Pandavas, so Kunti would still have 5 children, whether Arjuna or Karna survived. A disappointed Kunti left as per Mahabharata Udyogaparva Chapters 145-146.

The war ended with heavy casualties on both sides. The Pandavas were victorious but unhappy. Kunti asked them to carry out the last rites for Karna too, and revealed that Karna was her first born. Yudhishtira was heartbroken on hearing this. later Kunti consoled Subhadra and Uttara, who were mourning the death of Abhimanyu. She then asked Krishna to cremate Uttara’s dead son. She then consoled Gandhari. Later when Gandhari and Dhritarashtra decided to leave for the forests, Kunti decided to go with them. The Pandavas tried to stop her, but she was unrelenting. She advised Yudhishtira to take special care of Sahadeva, not to forget Karna, and to be patient to Draupadi and Bhima. The Pandavas then decided to follow her to the forest, along with Draupadi and Subhadra. Dhritarashtra and Gandhari were saddened by this and asked Kunti to go back to Hastinapura. But she managed to send back the Pandavas and proceeded to the forest. The three of them began living on the banks of the Ganga. The Pandavas visited them and Yudhishtira and Sahadeva expressed a desire to stay there. Kunti refused them, and along with Gandhari and Dhritarashtra, began meditating. They ate only once a month. Later, they were all killed in a forest fire as per Mahabharata Ashramavasikaparva Chapter 37 verse 31. Their last rites were performed on the Ganga as per Mahabharata Sriparva, Shantiparva, Ashramavasikaparva, Ashwamedhikaparva.

Kunti, Madri and Pandu earned swargaloka as per Mahabharata Swargarohanaparva Chapter 5 verse 15.