Kunti was an ideal lady, full of devotion and good conduct. She was the real sister of Vasudeva, the father of Lord Krishna. Hence, she was the aunt of Lord Krishna and of course was the mother of the three Pandavas- Yudhishtir, Bheema and Arjuna. Her childhood name was Pritha and the king Kunti Bhoja had adopted her. Thus raised by Kunti Bhoja, she came to be known as Kunti. Once sage Durvasa came to visit king Kunti Bhoja. There, Kunti(Pritha) served the sage Durvasa so well that the pleased sage gave her certain mantras from Atharvaveda and said that reciting those mantras whichever god she invoked would come along and bless her with a child. Later on, with the powers of the mantras and blessings of gods like Yama, Vayu, Indra and Ashwinikumaras, Kunti produced extraordinarily strong sons.

But one mistake of Kunti may be said to be the real cause of the Mahabharat battle. Having received the Mantras from Durvasa, one day Kunti just out of curiosity decided to test them. So seeing the Sun, she recited the mantras and invoked the Sun. The Sun God (Surya) did come and blessed Pritha with a child. But afraid of calumny, she discarded the son in the Ganges. The abandoned child was found and taken to his home by a charioteer Adhirath, who along with his wife Radha raised this child who later came to be known as Karna. Karna was very brave since his birth but always faced humiliation and was rescued by Duryodhana who presented him with the kingdom of Anga desh and raised his status. It was the stubbornness of Karna that played a crucial role in the battle against the Pandavas. He was born with shield (kavacha) and ring.

Kunti was married to the king Pandu. Pandu was very pious in nature and was fond of hunting also. Once by mistake he shot the sage Kindama with an arrow when he was enjoying sensual moments with his wife in the guise of the deers. The dying sage cursed Pandu that whenever he would try to have intercourse, he would die on the spot. Disturbed mentally by this event and as a penance, King Pandu gave up his kingdom and began to live in the forests along with his wives Kunti and Madri. Kunti and Madri too strictly followed celibacy while staying in the forests.

Since king Pandu was unable to produce children, so Kunti decided to use the power of Mantras to have the heir of Pandu Vansha (clan). Thus, she gave birth to three sons- Yudhishthir, Bheema and Arjuna, while helped Madri to bear Nakula and Sahadev through Ashwinikumaras. After the demise of Pandu, Kunti was ready to commit Sati with her husband. But at being convinced by Madri that it was she who was the cause of Pandu's death, so she must go with Pandu. During his living days, Kunti bestowed Madri with sisterly love as well as helped her to bear sons.

After the death of king Pandu, Kunti led a painful life. But she was very considerate and had great patience, so ignoring her sufferings and without worrying even a bit, she kept to the religious path and bore the atrocities of Duryodhana silently. She even asked her nephew Lord Krishna for a strange boon that: "O Lord, give us the boon of sorrow for I may perhaps forget you in comforts but in sorrow you will always remain in my mind".

Kunti had a very kind and tender nature. She could easily bear her own sufferings, but others sufferings had a melting effect on her. After escaping Duryodhana's conspiracy to immolate them in the house of Lac, when the Pandavas were staying in Eka Chakra Nagari, a demon named Bakasura began to terrorize and torment the people. Everyday, the demon had to be given a cartful of food and two bull buffaloes. But the evil demon used to devour even the person who took the food to him. People of Eka Chakra Nagari had to the job one by one. Once, it was the turn of the Brahmin family whom the Pandavas were staying with to send the man in order to carry the food to the demon. There was lot of argument over who should go to him with the food. When Kunti came to know about the matter, her heart was filled with pity. So, she consoled and convinced the Brahmins by sending her son Bheema to carry the food for Bakasura. Could any mother on earth sacrifice her child for such a purpose!

Kunti's love for truth was also an ideal. She never lied in amusement. Even if by mistake anything escaped out of her lips, she saw that it would be followed faithfully. After winning Draupadi in Swayamvara, when Arjuna and Bheema reached home along with Draupadi and exclaimed to their mother: "Look, what we have brought". Without looking, she ordered them to share it equally among them. But when she realized that her sons had brought a young girl, she felt sorry for her utterances and was in a dilemma. Because now if she took her words back, it would be akin to telling a lie and that if she wanted her words to be kept then it would be a violation of moral norms. But later on, sage Vyasa removed her doubts telling her the story of Draupadi's previous incarnation in which Lord Shiva gave her a boon for five husbands. So, as per the boon, the five Pandavas would marry Draupadi.

During the term of Pandavas twelve years exile, Kunti had stayed put in Hastinapur. After the exile period was over, she preached her sons to abide by the path of religion and fulfill the purpose for which Kshatraanis (ladies of the Kshatriya class) give birth to their children. After the battle of Mahabharat, Kunti received the honour to be Raj Maata (the royal mother) and treated her elder brother and sister-in-laws, who had lost their sons in the battle and were in anguish and mourning, with affection and love. Kunti even accompanied her brother and sister-in-laws in their exile also and met her end together with them in the forest fire. Such was the greatest of Kunti. Thus, since the very beginning, Kunti's life was an example of abandonment, penance and detachment.