A stray cricket is chirping, and the stars are high in the sky. With the exception of an occasional roll or sniffle from the children, the night remains constant. Kunti is fixated on the sky and feels exhausted to the point of not being able to close her eyes. She focused on the stars and their slight twinkle while reflecting on the thoughts racing through her mind. With a new journey underfoot, the Pandavas are very tired. Yudhishthira, Bhima, and Arjuna are helpful, they help Kunti keep Nakula, and Sahadeva on task while attempting to keep spirits high. It has not been a week since the death of their father and Kunti’s beloved, but even less time since Nakula and Sahadeva lost a mother. Kunti took nearly no time at all after the funeral to make her decision to move the family. It has been four days since the family left their forest home in search of the kingdom that the boys have only seen in the stories their father had told them.

As Kunti relaxed into the ground beneath her, she began to second guess her decision. There is only half a day’s journey left for them in the morning, something that makes Kunti as nervous as she is relieved. She does not know what awaits them. The kingdom has had no interaction with Pandu’s sons. They only know of them by letters and king Dhritarashtra could be inclined to reject the sons as suitable leaders. Kunti knows this as much as she knows that it is also their birth right. As she hears the slight sounds of Bhima’s breathing, she knows that the Pandavas would be great rulers and deserve their chance at it. They deserve to be taught all of the lessons fit for kings. The amount of training and instruction they can receive would be just the thing to make her sons the best rulers that the kingdom of Hastinapur has ever known.

After a restless night, Kunti woke just as the sun was peeking above the horizon. There was a light gray haze that Kunti could see just on the other side of the forest clearing. She knew there was only a few more moments she would get alone before the children would wake up. There was a nice calm that floated over Kunti, almost in the same way the haze over took the forest floor. With a short bit of distance and a full day ahead of the family, Kunti knew that the rest would follow soon enough. She knew that the boys would grow into men as well as great warriors. Kunti could feel comfortable satisfaction overtake her when she looks forward into what could be. When she would look toward what could be the next step for the sons she could see no further than where they were now. She was only overtaken by feelings that had assured her that the sons would grow up and make the world into a better place.

Authors Note: In this story I wanted to highlight some of the things I found most interesting in the Mahabharata. I found it interesting and touching to think about Kunti on her trip back to the kingdom with the Pandavas. She is now a widow and an single mother to five children and now must look out for them. She has also just lost her husband and what I would imagine to be a great friend. This all makes me think of Kunti as strong and determined. I added a lot of ideas that I feel must reflect how she feels inside. I could only imagine that she has doubts and a slight unwillingness to return after the sons have been living in the forest for their whole lives. I set the setting during the travels since that is when I beleive Kunti would have a chance to let her thoughts consume her and be able to think.

Gibbs, L. Mahabharata, https://sites.google.com/view/tinymahabharata/part-a/page-3?authuser=0