कुन्तीस्तुतिः - श्रीमद्भागवतम्

Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas was one of Krishna’s aunts.Needless to say she loved Krishna, as Devaki or Yashoda might love Him. Apart from her मातृभावः, she had, early on in her life, begun to look up to Sri Krishna as the savior of her sons, Pandavas and Draupadi and their progeny. The Lord was with them, at all major instances, as the story unfolded. Here it was, after the war when Yudhishtira was proclaimed king. Just as the Lord was preparing to leave for Dwaraka after the Mahabharata war, He yet again, saved the unborn son of Uttarakumari, daughter-in-law of Arjuna, on whom the powerful brahmamissile was released by Ashwattama. Kunti , overcome by emotion on hearing that their savior Sri Krishna had saved the unborn offspring of the Kuru dynasty, praises him with words of gratitude.

विपदः सन्तु ताः शश्वत्तत्र तत्र जगद्गुरो ।

भवतो दर्शनम् यत्स्यादपुनर्भवदर्शनम् ॥ 1.8.25

जगद्गुरो O lord of the Universe

सन्तु let there be

विपदः calamities

शश्वत् again and again

तत्र तत्र here and there

भवतः your

दर्शनम् meeting

यत् that

स्यात् which is

अपुनः not again

भवदर्शनम् seeing the repetition of birth and death

In this verse, which is a part of Kunti’s stuti of Sri Krishna in Canto 1, Chapter 8 of श्रीमद्भागवतम्, she asks the Lord for more calamities in her life, since calamities give her the opportunity to see the Lord more often.

It may seem a contradiction that Kunti asks for more calamities in her life, since every being wishes for happiness in his/her life, but in Kunti’s case, she who has tasted the bliss of the Lord’s presence through each and every calamity, the word calamity loses its bitterness and implies that SriKrishna’s sweet presence would instead take its place.

जन्मैश्वर्यश्रुतश्रीभिर्एधमानमदः पुमान् ।

नैवार्हत्यभिधातुं वै त्वामकिञ्चनगोचरम् ॥1.8.26

पुमान् the person

जन्म-ऎश्वर्य-श्रुत-श्रीभिः (who) by the possession of birth, opulence, education and beauty

एधमानः (and) progressively increasing

मदः intoxication

वै certainly

न एव never

अर्हति deserves

अभिधातुं to address

त्वां You

अकिञ्चनगोचरम् who is easily approachable for the materialistically famished

Says Kunti, It is not possible for the self-important person, who is materially satiated, to remember the lord with as feeling and sincerity as the impoverished and suffering. Hence Kunti prays for calamities to beset her so that she may always remember the lord with total sincerity and a feeling of helplessness.