In the Mahābhārata, Bhima (Sanskrit: भीम, IAST: Bhīma, Tibetan: མི་འཇིགས་སྟན, Wylie: mi 'jigs stan) is one of the central characters of Mahabharata and the second of the Pandava brothers. Bhima was distinguished from his brothers by his great stature and strength.
His legendary prowess is celebrated in the epic: "Of all the wielders of the mace, there is none equal to Bhima; and there is none also who is so skillful a rider of elephants. In fight, they say, he yields not even to Arjuna; and as to might of arms, he is equal to sixty elephants. Well-trained and active, he who hath again been rendered bitterly hostile, would in anger consume the Dhritarashtra in no time. Always wrathful, and strong of arms, he is not capable of being subdued in battle by even Indra himself. Bhima a Maha-ratHi, capable of fighting 60,000 warriors at once, so mighty was he that when he were to roar in anger he would put to shame the proudest lion and frighten the most fearless warrior".[1] He is known for following Dharma to the fullest extent possible. He is always referred to as second avatara (form) of Mukhya-Prana, highest among the all souls in creation and souls not come into creation.
He was furious when the game of dice between his brother, King Yudhisthira, and Duryodhana reached its final stages. Duryodhana told Draupadi to sit on his lap at which Bhima became enraged. He swore to himself and Duryodhana that he would crush those very thighs that he told Draupadi to sit on. But when Dushasana dragged Draupadi into the royal court by her hair and attempted to strip her in the court, Bhima swore that he would tear his chest and drink his blood also wash Draupadi's hair with it. During the second exile of the Pandavas, he visited Alakapuri and was blessed by Kubera. At the end of their exile at the court of Virata, he disguised himself as vallava and acted as a palace cook.
Contents |
He lived for a time in hiding with his brothers during their first exile. In this period, he came across Hidimba (alias Smritika) and Hidimbi (alias Pallavi), a rakshasha brother and sister. Because of the enmity of the rakshasha to the people of the Kuru kingdom, Hidimba asked Hidimbi to lure Bhima to a trap. However, Bhima and Hidimbi were attracted to each other. Bhima fought and killed Hidimba, and lived for a year in the forest with Hidimbi, by whom he had a son, Ghatotkacha.
With his brothers, he was married to Draupadi, who give birth to a son by him by the name Sutasoma. The child that Draupadi bore to Bhimasena was born after Bhima had performed a thousand Soma sacrifices, he came to be called Sutasoma. Bhima also obtaining for a wife Valandhara, the daughter of the king of Kasi, offered his own prowess as dower and begat upon her a son named Sarvaga. Chedi king Sisupala's sister also was wedded to Bhima.
After the first return of the Pandavas to the Kuru lands, he challenged the king of Magadha, Jarasandha, to a wrestling bout and killed him, thus making it possible for his brothers to take part in the Rajasuya Yajna. Other than Lord Sri Krishna, Jarasandha could have been killed only by Bhima and Karna. Such was the evil strength of Jarasandha.
Bhima also embarked on a military expedition to the east as directed by his elder brother Yudhisthira, the king, to collect tribute for the Rajasuya sacrifice. It is believed that Yudhisthira chose Bhima to lead the army to eastern kingdoms because these kingdoms were famous for their strong armies protected by war-elephants and Bhima was an expert in defeating any army consisting of war-elephants with his great skill in mace-fighting. In his expedition Bhima defeated using either diplomacy or military might, many kingdoms in the east including the hostile tribes of Panchalas who were enemies of Panchala king Drupada, the Chedis, the Kosalas, Kasis, Mallas, Videhas, Magadhas, Angas and Vangas. In Mahabharata, 2 chapters (MBh 2.28, 2.29), are dedicated to this eastern military expedition of Bhima.
Bhima's Marriages to Hidimbi, Draupadi, and Balandhara
On Vidura's advice, Pandava started living in hiding in villages and Van. Once all the Pandavas were sleeping along with Kunti in a forest. Bhima was on guard. There lived a Rākshasa nearby, named Hidimba along with his sister Hidimbi. On that night when Hidimba came back, he smelled human being's flesh and asked Hidimbi to bring human meat. Hidimbi went there where the Pandavas were sleeping, but she got attracted to Bhima. She came back and said to her brother that she would not kill him as she loved him and wanted to marry him. Then Hidimba himself came there to eat them, but Bhima fought with him and killed him. By then the other Pandavas and Kunti also woke up and were surprised to see a Rakshasa killed and lying there. Hidimbi requested Kunti to accept her for Bhima. Kunti accepted her on Bhima's consent. Bhima lived there until he had a son - one year. His son's name was Ghatotkacha. He also fought very bravely in Mahabharata war like Abhimanyu and was killed there.
Bhima then married to Draupadi and had a son from her named Sutasoma. Bhima was married to the princess of Kashi also - Balandhara and had a son from her too - Sarvaang. Thus Bhima had three sons from his three wives - Ghatotkach from Hidimbi, Sutasoma from Draupadi, and Sarvaang from Balandhara. All sons of Bhima were killed in the Mahabharata war.
Bhima was a great general in the great battle of Kurukshetra, second in command only to the generalissimo Dhristadyumna, killing six out of the eleven akshauhinis of the other side (Kauravas). Six Akshauhinis adds up to the astronomical figure of around 1,705,860 men and 787,320 beasts which is testimony to the portrayal as the character of supreme physical prowess. During the battle, the Kauravas were frightened to face his might and sent elephants to fight him. An entire sub-chapter is devoted to describing the "light chat" or banter that he used to maintain with Krishna's son whilst fighting the enemies - yet another glimpse into the power that Veda-Vyasa invests in Bhima's persona. Bhima's weapon of choice was the mace - in the use of which he was second to none
"Bheemascha, Balabhadrascha(Balarama), Madrarajasya(Shalya) veeryavan".... (The 4 greatest identified mace wielders of that time were reputed to be Bhima, Balarama, Shalya and Keechaka. The original epic mentions 5 great mace wielders, but the 5th is not identified. Amongst the most important personalities that Bhima quelled were Baka (head of a cannibalistic race), Kirmira (Baka's brother), MaNiman (leader of the anger-demons in Kubera's garden), Jarasandha, Dushasana etc. He also withheld mighty Dronacharya by breaking his chariot eight times while Arjuna was trying to find and kill Jayadratha. On the 15th, he killed the elephant Ashvatthama, which was a material cause for the death of Drona. On the final day of the battle, Bhima fights Duryodhana, After striking him clean blow when Duryodhana tries a bad move with and upside down attack, servers the nerve attaching the back bone and both the thighs of Duryodhana in a duel. Thus, fulfilling the vow to break his thighs, Note: in a mace fight hitting below waist is not allowed. Hence, his blow to Duryodhana was above his waist level but on his back with severed the nerve that brings mobility to legs. Hence, breaking the nerve also means breaking the legs. At this time, Balarama criticised Bhima for that blow, but was calmed down by Krishna. Bhima refrained from killing any respectable elders in the Kaurava's side out of respect for their virtue. The only elderly person he killed was the king of Bahlika (Bhishma's paternal uncle) - and he does this because the king of Bahlika asks Bhima to kill him to release him from the sin of fighting for the kauravas (Bahlika had to fight with the kauravas on account of Bhishma, his nephew).Bhima is also credited to have killed all 99 sons of Drithrastra (except yuyutsu)
He finished his days with his brothers and Draupadi, on their great and final journey toward Heaven. He was the last to give up his mortal coil on the journey, leaving Yudhisthira alone to complete the journey by himself.[2][3]
"Bhaktir jyanam sa Vairagyam Prgna Medha dhrithi sthiti:" "Yogo Praanam Balam Chaiva Vrikodara iti smruta:" He was the fountainhead of 10 qualities
It is said that Bheema, Duryodhana, Keechaka, Jarasandha and Hidimbasura were born in the same cosmic phase. It was said that the one who kills the first among these five will kill the rest of them too. Bhima is the first to kill Himdimbasura and eventually slays everyone else.
Two characters in Hindu mythology are great cooks. One is Bhima and the other is Nala.
While he did possess superhuman strength, he has been portrayed as a man with no lenience for duplicity or tact in many cases - he is portrayed as the only pandava who constantly pointed out the faults of others, even if they were older or much respected(A Sign of True Bhagawata Dharma). Being highly sensitive, he swayed between extreme emotions of love and hatred. Draupadi is often seen to turn to him to salvage her honor (be it in the case of Duryodhana's defeat or in the case of Kichaka's slaying).
It is said that Bhima's appetite was so huge, that he always had to eat less than full. They say there wasn't enough grain in the world at one time (Here "wasn't enough grain in the world" is a Metaphor-figure of speech, which can have many meanings. It will be logical to interpret this as he could eat everything that was cooked and still ask for more). He hence had a narrow midsection and hence was called "Vrikodara" or Vrika-wolf Udahra-bellied, (another Metaphor-figure of speech) because wolves seem to lack a belly even if they are well-fed.
|
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||