Madri

From Jatland Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Map of Ancient Jat habitations

Madri (माद्री) was a princess of the Madra kingdom and the second wife of Pandu.

On his way to Hastinapur, King Pandu encountered the army of Shalya, King of Madra. Very soon, Pandu and Shalya became friends and Shalya gave his only sister, Madri to Pandu, as a gift of their friendship. Looking at her beauty, Pandu accepted the lady willingly and took her to Hastinapur.

She, alongside Kunti, faitfhully accompanied Pandu in his hermetical retreat following his abdication as the king of Hastinapura. Both Kunti and Madri were directly affected by the curse on Pandu because they were denied the opportunity to bear Pandu's children. However, a boon was given to Kunti which enabled her to bear Yudishthira, Bhima, and Arjuna. This boon was passed on to Madri, who then bore twins from god Ashwini named Nakula and Sahdeva.

One fateful day, Pandu desired Madri and the memory of the curse briefly eluded him. Death struck Pandu immediately. Madri, filled with remorse, self immolated on Pandu's funeral pyre. Kunti became a single mother of the five children.

The descendants of Madri were known as Madra, madrak or Maderna, which is a Jat gotra. [1]

Reference

  1. * Dr Mahendra Singh Arya, Dharmpal Singh Dudi, Kishan Singh Faujdar & Vijendra Singh Narwar: Ādhunik Jat Itihasa (The modern history of Jats), Agra 1998

Back to The Ancient Jats