Using Kunti's divine boon, Madri invokes the twin gods Ashvins to conceive her twin sons. Later, the cursed Pandu dies when he is overcome by desire and initiates intimacy with Madri. Overcome with remorse and grief, Madri entrusts her sons to Kunti's care and joins him in death.

Madri is traditionally viewed as a pativrata (devoted wife), whose beauty and charm are emphasised in the epic and its later adaptations. Madri's death by self-immolation is often cited as the