“Agni, the annihilator, all powerful,
Come closer and absorb me, in total.
Wreck this wretched woman
Who ditched her prime son
The hands which threw him into water
Should be burned first, the rest later,
But destroy me totally, Agni,
Leave nothing behind.
Let another Kunthi be never born.
The world should never remember
The cowardice of a dismal mother”
“Me first Kunthi, me first,
I killed all my sons
Not less than a hundred.
You deserted only one baby.
Blind for their faults,
I made my sons blind,
Supporting their treachery
I filled my treasury
With curses of mothers
Husbands, wives and others
Agni, annihilate me in total
Leave not a speck behind
The world shouldn’t have
A man of my kind”
“Me first Kunthi, for mutilating the dignity
Of the crown diamond of the Kuru dynasty
Instead of washing her tresses with perfumes
And adorning it with flowers and jewels
I allowed its mutilation by dirty hands.
Ashamed to say those hands are my son’s.
Mutilated was not her hair locks and dress alone,
Her sacred self esteem and dignity of womanhood
The stain of that crime will stay ever
On the fallen walls of Kuru’s empire.
When Panchali screamed in shame
Under the grips of the assailant
Her call pierced my cells, like Arjuna’s arrows
Punctured my bones like Bheema’s mace.
Why didn’t I tear my eye band
And rush to strengthen my daughter’s hand?”
“Elder sister and brother emperor
Encircled we are by fire,
Not ferocious but gracious
The lord who gifted Droupathi.
Will liberate us in sympathy
He is not a kitchen fire or forest fire,
He is lord Agni, the liberator,
Let us surrender to our Elevator”
