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Description of: KUNTI &
SURYA
Artist: Bharadwaja
Dasa
Once, before Kunti's marriage to Pandu,
she had received a benediction from Durvasa Muni that she could call any demigod from the heavenly planets and beget a son
by him. Once in curiosity she called for Surya, the sun god. Surya appeared before her, but Kunti was afraid and told Surya
that she chanted the mantra just to test it. Surya informed Kunti that the mantra could not go in vain. He promised her that
her virginity would remain intact, and that the child would be born from her ear. During that time with Surya a child was
conceived, and from Kunti's ear was born Karna, the son of the sun god. Out of fear of her relatives, Kunti wrapped the
child in a cloth, put the child in a small boat and set him afloat on the Ganges River. Later the child was picked up by a
charioteer named Adiratha. The child later grew up to be Karna, the powerful general and warrior under Duryodhana. Just before
the battle of Kurukshetra, Karna was informed by Lord Krishna of his actual mother and father. Despite knowing of his actual
parenthood and that the Pandavas were his brothers, he could not give up the association of Duryodhana. The pastime of Kunti
and Surya is mentioned in the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata.
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