Bhima

The third of the five Pandava brothers
who are the heroes in the
Mahabharata, the later of the two great
Hindu epics. Bhima is born when his
mother, Kunti, uses a powerful mantra
(sacred sound) to have a son by the
wind-god, Vayu. Of all the Pandavas,
Bhima is the largest and strongest, and
his favorite weapon is the club, which
requires great physical strength. This
strength is one of the sources of enmity
between the Pandavas and the
Kauravas (cousins of the Pandavas),
since during their adolescent training,
Bhima can always draw on his superior
power to outdo his cousins. His earthy
and untamed nature is evident through
his consumption of strange foods as well
as from his liaison with the rakshasi
(female demon) Hidambi, by whom he
has a son, Ghatotkacha. Bhima’s notable
deeds tend to be feats of strength. In
many cases this involves killing demons,
such as Bakasur or Hidamba in hand-tohand combat; but Bhima is also a major
figure in the Mahabharata war, in which
he uses his club to kill great masses of the
Kaurava army.
Besides his strength and unusual
appetites, which make him a figure subject to caricature, Bhima is also
absolutely devoted to his brothers and
to their common wife, Draupadi.
Whenever her honor is at stake, Bhima is
the person to whom she turns. When
Draupadi is molested by Kichaka during
the year that the Pandavas spend incognito at the court of King Virata, Bhima
disguises himself as Draupadi, goes to
meet Kichaka, and kills him. It is also
Bhima who vows to kill the two
Kaurava brothers, Duhshasana and
Duryodhana, because of their behavior
toward Draupadi after Bhima’s brother
109
Bhima
Yudhishthira loses an important game
of dice. Duhshasana drags Draupadi
into the hall by her hair, her garments
stained with menstrual blood, and
Duryodhana bares his thigh (a
euphemism for the genitals) toward
Draupadi and directs her to sit on his
lap. Bhima vows that to avenge these
insults he will rip open Duhshasana’s
chest so that Draupadi can wash her
hair in his blood, and smash
Duryodhana’s thigh with his club.
Although it takes thirteen years before
he carries out these promises, in the end
he avenges Draupadi’s honor. After the
Mahabharata war, Bhima aids his
brother Yudhishthira in reigning as king.
After Yudhishthira abdicates the throne,
Bhima travels with him and their other
brothers on a great journey to the
Himalayas, where Bhima eventually
dies of exposure.