Yajna way of life

As we discussed, guru Drona's motivation to teach was to quench his revenge, hence his life did not become a yajna. Maharishi Vyasa was in contrast to this. He also lived in the same time frame; he too conducted gurukulas, but it was driven by detachment, done with duty sense and with a noble intention to protect Vedas. He surveyed the entire country, collected more than 1000 shakas of Vedas which had blossomed in family tradition (vamsha prampara). He protected them, organized them and handed over to the next generation. He lived his life in a yajna way.

Kunti did yajna as a mother, brought up 5 children like five gems. When Pandu was away, she had to take care of the family, her sister Madri did sahagamana with Pandu after which she took over the responsibility of upbringing Madri's children Nakula and Sahadeva as well, along with her three children. It never was 3+2 for her, it was always 5 children for her. In-spite of all the terrorist activities of kauravas fueled by negligent Drutarashtra and Gandhari and by kutantras of Shakuni, she groomed her children. She performed her duty as a mother, a true role model for matru yajna.

Post Kurukshetra war, padavas took over the reins of kingdom, Yudishtira became the king, it was his wish to bestow Rajamata title and all the due respects on their mother kunti. He approached and requested her to accept the respect of Rajamata and guide him in administration. To his surprise, she refused to accept. Kunti said, having lost all their children, old parents Drutarashtra and Gandhari were in deep grief. On top of it, they were preparing to go to vanavasa as per the tradition. How can such old and blind couple survive on their own in the forest? As a sister of Gandhari, it's her duty to take care of them. Hence she decided to go along with them to forest rejecting all the privileges offered to her.

Having failed to convince his mother, King Yudishtira requests her to at least give some guiding principles for his administration. Advice given by Kunti at this moment demonstrates the highest peak of mentoring by any mother in the history of mankind. She said;

धर्मे ते धीयतां बुद्धिः। मनस्ते महदस्तु च॥

Dharme te dhīyatāṁ buddiḥ | Manaste mahadastu ca ||

Let your intellect be rooted in dharma (spirituality) and mind in magnanimity.

When buddhi is rooted in dharma (spirituality), mind automatically becomes magnanimous, generous, all encompassing, this will join hearts of the people and gradually raga, dwesha will subside and all the wounds of Kurukshetra war will be healed. Having conveyed this message, she went on to vanavasa (exile). Till her last days, Kunti took care of Gandhari and Drutarashtra as if they were her children.

With this as the guiding principle, Yudishtira ruled for 36 years. During his administration, he did not have any opposition to his rule. This, he could achieve because of the formula given by Kunti.

To summarize,

* Kunti -> A role model for any mother, who performed matru Yajna

* Vyasa -> A guru who lived his life in a Yajna way