Pandu Retires to the Forest with His Two Wives
Pandu, having regained control over his senses, leaves his palace and royal life behind. He takes his two wives, Kunti and Madri, to live permanently in the wilderness, hunting and roaming the southern slopes of the Himalayas. Under Dhritarashtra's command, the forest-dwellers provide for them, and Pandu lives among them like a god.
Pandu won control over his senses. The phrase is simple, but it marks a turning point. He was a king, a kshatriya (warrior) of the Kuru lineage, but something had shifted within him. He made his decision.
He left his excellent palace and its beautiful beds. He took his two wives, Kunti and Madri, and retired to the forest. This was not a temporary retreat; he intended to live there permanently, making the wilderness his home.
His life became one of constant movement and hunting. He roamed the southern slopes of the beautiful Himalaya Mountains, living on mountain plains and in forests filled with gigantic shala trees. With swords, arrows, and bows, and clad in wonderful armor, the brave king who was skilled in the use of all weapons seemed to the forest-dwellers not like a man in exile, but like a visiting deity.
He was not alone. With Kunti and Madri, Pandu lived in the forest like a handsome elephant of the god Indra walking between two cow elephants. The image is one of natural majesty, of a powerful being perfectly suited to its environment, accompanied by its mates.
And though he had left the capital, the mechanisms of the kingdom followed him. On the command of his brother Dhritarashtra, who now ruled from Hastinapura, the men of the forest always gave Pandu every object of desire and pleasure he might seek. He had renounced the palace, but not the care of the throne.