Kunti hears lamentations and resolves to help the Brahmana
While her other sons are out begging, Kunti hears terrible sounds of lamentation from their Brahmana host's family. Moved by compassion and a sense of debt, she tells Bhima they must discover and remedy the cause of this grief.
One day, the Pandava brothers—Yudhishthira, Arjuna, and the twins—had gone out to beg for alms. Bhimasena remained at home with his mother, Pritha (Kunti).
Then Kunti heard it: a great uproar from the Brahmana's part of the house, terrible sounds of lamentation and weeping. Because of her innate compassion and goodness, the lady could not bear the sound. Feeling profound sorrow, the virtuous Kunti spoke to Bhima in gentle words.
"O son," she said. "Unknown to the sons of Dhritarashtra, we have lived happily in this Brahmana's house. We have been respected and treated well by him. I have always thought about what would be good for the Brahmana, about how I could please him. That is the duty of those who happily live in another's house. A true man returns what he has received, and such an act is never destroyed. One should do more good than others have done for one. Without a doubt, this Brahmana has fallen into some grief. If we can be of any help to him, that will be a good deed."
Bhimasena, ever ready for action, replied, "Let us find out what the distress is and how it has arisen. Having learned it, I shall try to remove it, no matter how difficult it will be."
While mother and son were thus conversing, they heard another sound—a pitiful, heart-rending wail from the Brahmana and his wife. The cry was an urgent summons. It prompted Kunti to act. She rose and hurried towards the inner quarters to investigate the source of the despair herself.