Bits of life

S-7 Words-2000

to the wax house where the Pandava princes were lodged. Purochan, the man who made the wax house was in a celebratory mood. A few tribals arrive with forest wine and some gifts for the Pandavas. Purochan and his henchmen surrounded the bonfire and started having some fun drinking and joking aloud with the women who arrived with the tribals. Later that night, Purochan moved into a remote room in the wax house and invited the tribal members to have some fun. He mixed some poison in the drinks he served them and they fell unconscious after drinking the wine.

A big shocking surprise awaited him as he threw open the doors of his chamber. There was an inferno rising in the house. He wanted to escape but was trapped under a burning beam and died forthwith. The Pandavas had escaped through the tunnel which led them into the midst of a forest. There they rested and discussed the disaster that they had just escaped.

Here in Hastinapur, the news of the death of the Pandavas in an unexpected fire accident was conveyed sending shock waves through the citizens and the king. Old king Dhritarashtra and his queen Gandhari were deeply grieved by the news of the fire and presumably the death of Pandavas and their mother, Kunti.

Duryodhan and Shakuni were overjoyed at the death of their arch rivals, the Pandava princes and their mother. Now they thought, they had no rivals and the throne of Hastinapur was theirs for the asking. But the ways of god are strange and this fact remained steady through the ages.

Bhishma was buried in himself for a long time and on one midnight, when silence ruled the mortal world, he went to the shore of Ganges and begged for a sight of his mother Ganga. This was an example of how human beings crave for the solace given by their mother. None could understand the anxiety better than mother. Gang appeared before Bhishma and assured him that the Pandava princes were alive and safe. Relieved by this news, Bhishma returned home. On the next day when he met Vidura, the truth of the Pandavas escape was confirmed. Vidura told him they were safe but he couldn’t tell him where exactly they were. This bothered Bhishma. He very much wanted to know the exact location at which the Pandavas were. Vidura told him that they stayed at a place called Ekchakrapuram.

The Pandavas and their mother walked in the forest for a long time and reached a place from which they could not move one step more. They were very tired and Kunti especially needed some rest. They were subjected to both mental and physical shock by this villainous scheme made by Duryodhan and his drummers.

When Kunti and the last two brothers of the Pandavas, Sahadeva and Nakula were not able to walk, Bhima, the strong middle brother carried them on his arms and walked on till the nightfall. They had to stop there and rest for the night. They were surrounded by thick forest and probably by wild animals. So Bhima asked them to sleep while he kept vigil. After midnight Kunti woke up and asked him to rest a while. But he refused saying that h could not wake either the elder brother Yudhishtar or younger brother Arjuna, for one was older and the other was younger than him. Kunti was assured by him that nothing would happen to him and she should sleep without worry. Kunti felt assured and went back to sleep. Look their strange and unexpected turn of fate. There they were walking through the day on thorn ridden forest path and finally had to sleep on the muddy ground of the forest. These were the people who till the other day lived in palaces and slept on beds befitting the royal family. Fate could change without notice and without a glimpse of expectation.

After some time, there was a loud roar and a grunt. It was the midnight hour, the hour of demons and devils. They woke up and went on a rampage hunting for food and killing. There was a demon named Hidimbasura living in a tree house with his sister Hidimba. He came home and his sister served him a pot full of wine. But Hidimbasura told her that it had been a long time since he had eaten human flesh. He said he could smell the human beings lurking around. He ordered his sister to go and scout for the possible finding of human beings. Hidimba went out into the jungle and saw the Pandavas and an elderly lady sleeping on the forest floor. She spotted Bhima resting against the trunk of a large and keeping his eyes open. Hidimba fell in love with this huge person. It was love at first sight for her. She changed herself into beautiful maiden and went near Bhima. She told him who she was and how she was being nagged and bothered by his brother. While in conversation, they were seen by the demon Hidimbasura who was angry with his sister for talking to human person. He went to fight with Bhima and was defeated by him after a fierce fight.

In the meantime, the Pandavas and their mother Kunti awoke and witnessed the battle being fought between Bhima and an asura. After the death of Hidimbasura, his sister approached them and requested to let her be a member of the family. While Bhima kept silent indicating his assent to marry her, she told them that she loved at the very first sight of him and would like to marry him. Looking at her son, Kunti guessed that Bhima would like Hidimba as his bride, she consented and their marriage was performed in a simple style of exchanging garlands. Hidimba requested Kunti to let Bhima stay with her till she gave birth to a son. Kunti agreed to this wish and Bhima stayed back.

The Pandavas traveled on and broke their journey at a hamlet called Ekchakrapuram. They donned the guise of Brahmins and took shelter at the humble house of another poor Brahmin. They stayed in a wing of the house and went out to beg for alms and thus passed their time. Time was and would always be an enigma and a power that cannot be contended with.

After a year of staying with Hidimba, Bhima wanted to go back to his mother and brothers who missed him a lot. Hidimba and Bhima now had a baby son. Hidimba knew that time had come for Bhima to leave her. She was afraid that Bhima might ask for his son to take with him. When she told him of her fears, Bhima reassured her that he would never do that. A child needed his mother more than the father. A mother’s right to have the child with her was of more importance than that of its father.

The four brothers of the Pandavas missed their middle brother Bhima especially at the time of eating food. On one such day, Bhima had returned.

“Mother, I am here.”

Kunti hurried to the door and found her dear Bhima on the threshold. The family was about to partake the frugal meal that their mother had put together. When they heard the voice of Bhima, they were happy to have him back in the fold. Without hesitation they put all their food in one place and gave it to Bhima. He was happy to have been served as soon as he arrived at the door.

Days were passing as usual and the wheel time turned relentless.
One day, Kunti heard howling and crying desperately coming from the poor Brahman's house who had given the Pandavas and Kunti accommodation to live and spend their time in the village. Kunti went running to the owner’s house and asked him why the family was crying. She wanted to know the reason for this unlimited grief. As his guests, Kunti said she and her sons would share his happiness and sorrow in equal measure. The Brahmin then told her the cause behind his sorrow.

About three years back he said, there came a demon named Bakasura to Ekchakrapuram. Every day he used steal children and adults for his daily meal. The king of the Ekchakrapuram abandoned his position as the head of the bunch villages that came under his jurisdiction and ran away to a faraway place to save his life. The village, therefore had no one to protect them from any kind of disasters. So the village people made a pact with Bakasura. The deal was to send a cartful of rice and curries and a human being to go with every week to the cave of Bakasura. The demon agreed to this proposal and resided in a cave on the outskirts of Ekchakrapuram. A family was chosen every week to meet the above demands of the demon. That particular week, it was the turn of the poor Brahmin family to send the provisions and person for the demon.

The members of the poor Brahman's family were quarreling among themselves regarding who should go as a meal for the asura. The daughter of the family wanted to go, the father said he alone would go and the mother did not agree for this and she herself was ready to do the needful for the family. Kunti saw the situation was quite desperate. She wanted to do something for the family that gave them shelter and helped them remain unknown to the people at large. Then she consulted her sons and Bhima decided he would go to Bakasura. He said the village would prepare a tasty meal which he had every intention to eat before reaching the cave of the demon.

On the appointed day, a cart load of food was ready with fruit and drink. Then Bhima got in and drove the bullock cart away to the destination. Soon he was in sight of the cave. There he stopped the cart, had let the bullocks off the yoke and started feasting himself on the goodies that filled the cart. By the time he finished his sumptuous meal, Bakasura came out of the cave howling with hunger and swearing to take revenge on the village people who appeared to have cheated him of his weekly bonanza of a great meal. When he saw Bhima eating away with all his heart, his anger knew no bounds. He at once fell on Bhima to avenge the wrong done to him. There was a long fight between the two. At the end of it Bhima killed him with his fists. Thus Ekchakrapuram was forever free from the threat of Bakasura. The news of Bakasura’s death reached the people of the village. The villagers wanted to honor the five guests of the poor Brahmin. They came with garlands and drums to celebrate the occasion.

Looking on at the festive mood of the village, Kunti decided that it was time to leave the village. She was afraid that soon they would be recognized as Pandavas. The moment Duryodhana got the scent of they being alive he would try to hunt them down and kill them definitely. So Kunti gathered her children together and quietly, they slipped away from Ekchakrapuram. Once again were walking in the thick forest not knowing which way to go and where to stay.

In the forest at night when Bhima made a meal and was serving his mother and brothers, a group of sages were seen coming towards them. Yudhishtar and Kunti invited them to share a meal with them. the sages were happy at this unexpected hospitality from impressive looking strangers in the forest. The head sage asked them if they were going to a place called Kampilya, the capital of the kingdom of Panchala. The king of Panchala was Drupada, Drona’s enemy.

Arjuna asked them what was special about going to Kampilya.