Kunti Refuses Pandu's Request for a Fourth Son
After Arjuna's glorious birth, Pandu, still greedy for more sons, summons Kunti yet again. Kunti refuses him, citing the law of dharma that a fourth son renders a woman promiscuous, and questions why her wise husband is speaking as if he has lost his reason.
After Arjuna’s birth, with the celestial flowers still fresh and the prophecies still echoing, the immensely famous Pandu was again greedy for more sons. He summoned the beautiful Kunti yet again.
Kunti refused.
“A fourth son has not been heard of,” she said, “even in times of calamity. After that, a woman is called promiscuous. After the fifth, she is called a courtesan.”
She looked at her husband, the king who had just performed a year of supreme austerities, who was learned in the ways of dharma. “You are wise,” she said. “Because of the desire for offspring, why are you transgressing the law and speaking as if you have lost your reason?”
Her words were the end of it. Pandu did not ask her again.