power that exists in every person.
Through a combination of yoga practice
and ritual action, it is believed that the
kundalini is awakened and rises through
the chakrasin the subtle body. This
action brings further spiritual capacities
and, ultimately, final liberation (mok-
sha) of the soul. One of the claims for
kundalini yoga is that it is much quicker
than other means of spiritual develop-
ment, harnessing more powerful forces.
For this same reason, it is viewed as
more hazardous, and should be done
only under the supervision of one’s reli-
gious preceptor (guru). According to
tradition, those who engage these forces
without proper supervision risk
unleashing forces they cannot control,
possibly bringing on insanity or death.
Kunti
In the Mahabharata, the later of the two
great Hindu epics, Kunti is the elder wife
of King Pandu, and the mother of
Yudhishthira, Arjuna, and Bhima.
None of these children are actually
Pandu’s sons; they have been magically
conceived through the effect of a
mantra given to Kunti by the sage
Durvasas. The mantra gives the woman
who recites it the power to call down any
of the gods and conceive a son equal in
power to the god himself.
Kunti receives this mantra before her
marriage. In a moment of youthful
impulsiveness, she recites it while look-
ing at the sun. She is immediately visited
by a shining figure who leaves her with
an equally shining son. Distraught and
desperate at the birthof this illegitimate
child, she puts him in a box and aban-
dons him in the GangesRiver. The child
is adopted by the charioteer Adhiratha
and grows up to be the heroic Karna.
Kunti’s other three sons are born
after her marriage, with Pandu’s bless-
ing: Yudhishthira from the god
Dharma, who is righteousness person-
ified; Arjuna from the storm-god
Indra; and Bhima from the wind-god
Vayu. Although these three grow up to
be heroic and kingly figures, they
develop a violent hatred for Karna
because of his unknown parentage.
One of the Mahabharata’s tragic
themes is this bitter rivalry between
men who do not know they are broth-
ers. Their hostility is especially difficult
for Kunti, aware of Karna’s identity. She
knows that the problems are rooted in
her impulsiveness and cowardice. On
the eve of the great Mahabharata war
she goes to Karna, reveals his identity
to him, imploring him to return and
fight with his brothers. Karna refuses,
saying that he has taken a vow to kill
Arjuna, but he will not harm her other
sons. After the war Kunti becomes a
recluse, living in the forest with several
other people of her generation. After
living there for some years, she is killed
in a forest fire.Kurma Avatar
The Kurma avatar is considered the
second avataror incarnation of the
god Vishnu. Taking the form of a
tortoise, he helps the gods churn the
Ocean of Milk so that they can obtain
the nectar of immortality (amrta). See
Tortoise avatar.Kurmasana
(“tortoise-posture”) One of the sitting
postures (asanas) used in yoga; also
a posture in which images of the
deities are portrayed in Hindu
iconography. As described in commen-
taries on the Yoga Sutras, this posture
has the legs crossed with the feet
tucked under the thighs, and the crossed
heels forming a cavity around the
scrotum. In Indian iconography,
the Kurmasana is sometimes represent-
ed at the base of a statue by an
actual carving of a tortoise, forming
the base on which the image is placed.
In modern yoga manuals this posture
is described as a sitting position
in which the upper body is bent
forward, with the arms extended
sideways under the outstretched
legs, so that person looks vaguelyKunti