Death while making love : another root cause of Mahabharta

Death in lovemaking, this was one of the few very root causes of Mahabharata. How? The story is very intriguing.

If Aadi Parv of Mahabharata is to be believed, King Pandu once went for hunting in the forest. He saw an antelope and shot him with an arrow. It was revealed that the it was actually Kindam Rishi, a sage, who was in a sexual intercourse with his wife, whom Pandu had mistaken for an antelope. Rishi cursed Pandu that he too will die a similar death. Fear of curse gripped him and he became reluctant to indulge in intercourse with his wives Kunti and Madri. Later he handed over the throne to Dhritrashtra and headed towards forest with his wives.

Pandu led an austere life in Forest. However, he was melancholic in his heart for being childless. Once he tried to convince Kunti to get impregnated with a saint for the sake of continuing the clan. After several requests, Kunti began to invoke three Gods for the same purpose. Thus she delivered Yudhishthir after invoking God Dharmra, Arjuna by invoking Indra and Bheem by invoking Pawandev. By the same procedure Madri delivered two sons Nakul and Sahdev by pleasing Ashwini Kumar. It means Pandu was not the Father of “Pandvas” : the five brothers. Later Kunti worshipped the Sun and got blessed with a son Karna too. Thus Kunti had four sons while Madri had two sons.

Once during monsoon Pandu and Madri were taking a stroll in a forest. Suddenly lust seized him and he could not resist the temptation. He started sexual intercourse with Madri. As per the curse, It resulted in death of Pandu. Madri was unable to bear the shock of his death and offered herself to the balefire. Thus the responsibilities of raising Pandavas fell squarely on Kunti. Instead of visiting her maternal home, Kunti decided to go Hastinapur. She was welcomed there and Pandvas were accepted as sons of Pandu. This prompted an another set of competition and confrontation, as Gandhari, the wife of Dhritrashtra, had her own ambitions  for the throne of Hastinapur for she saw her hundred sons, known as Kauravas, as legitimate successor to throne.