All Blogs · Theology Thursday ·May 13, 2021

The Stories of Mothers

These are the stories of Mothers who had to abandon their children in Hindu theology.

Sita & Lav/Kush

Sita's troubles were far from over even after being rescued from Ravan by Ram, Lakshman and Hanuman. Upon returning to Ayodhya, her purity was questioned and she had a trial by fire to prove her chastity.

But apparently that still wasn't enough. Folks around town began gossiping, "What kind of a King would make Sita his Queen?" With a heavy heart, Ram instructed Lakshman to take Sita to a nearby forest.

It was like deja vu. Except this time, instead of being sent into exile with Ram and Lakshman, she had the company of two different guys... the twin boys she was carrying in her womb.

Sita essentially raised them as a single mother, and once they were reunited with their father, Ram, she decided to not just leave them... but leave the world that had subjected her to such pain.

Devaki & Krishna

Devaki and her husband, Vasudeva, were imprisoned by her evil cousin, Kansa, who was given a premonition that "Devaki's eighth son will kill you."

Sure enough, one by one, Kansa wasted no time in ensuring none of the babies lived past their birth. When Devaki gave birth to her eighth child, Krishna, something strange happened.

The gates to their prison unlocked and the guards outside fell asleep. This gave Vasudeva the perfect opportunity to rescue his son from Kansa's loathe.

After a tearful goodbye, Krishna was whisked away in the middle of the night, to a nearby town. Krishna was left inside the home of another couple who had also just welcomed a baby girl.

Kunti & Karna

Remember Vasudeva from the previous story? Well, he had a sister named Kunti, who also faced a similar fate.

A Sage once visited Kunti's home, and he was really pleased by the all comforts, patience, and devotion offered by Kunti. #HostessWithTheMostess. 💁‍♀️
In gratitude, he blessed her with a powerful mantra that would invoke any God of her choice and he would bless her with children.

This sounded too good to be true so out of curiosity, Kunti invoked the God Surya. Lo behold, she was pregnant. To her surprise, the baby was born with his sacred armor on.

Kunti was only a teenager and unmarried, however. Out of fear of society and "Log kya kahenge?" Kunti placed him in a basket and set him on the Ganges, in the hope that he finds foster parents.

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