Krishnavatara IV: The Book of Bhima Read online

  Kala Yavana could not reach Mathura. He became the victim of the anger of an old sage named Muchukunda, whom he tried to kill.

  Jarasandha, when he reached Mathura, saw to his chagrin that the Yadavas had escaped him. He spent his fury burning Mathura to the ground.

  To impose a dynastic alliance between himself and the kings of Chedi and Vidarbha, he issued orders that the swayamvara of Rukmini should be held at Kundinapura, when she should be married to Shishupala.

  Krishna suddenly appeared at Kundinapura, carried away Rukmini to Dwaraka, the capital of Saurashtra and was married to her.

  THE KURUS

  In the Arya world, the Bharatas and the Panchalas were the most numerous and the most powerful groups.

  In the old days, the Bharatas had established suzerainty over all the kings of Aiyavarta. Their king Bharata, was acclaimed the greatest among the chakravartins known to tradition.

  In the direct line of descent from the Emperor Bharata, we find Hastin, who found Hastinapura on the banks of the Ganga.

  In later times, the Bharatas also came to be called Kurus and held sway over a large dominion and suzerainty over many kings.

  The lands occupied by the Kurus and their rivals, the Panchalas, formed the core of Aryavarta, distinguished for its learning and valour. The most eminent of the Arya rishis had their hermitages there and its kings upheld the ancient ways of Dharma.

  King Shantanu, a descendant of Hastin, was a great king. He begot a son, Gangeya, who grew in strength, valour and righteousness.

  When advanced in years, King Shantanu fell in love with a fisher girl, who later came to be known as Satyavati. However, her father would not agree to her being married to the King unless her son, if she had one, could succeed to the throne. To make his father happy, Gangeya took a vow to remain unmarried and not to claim the throne. The vow was an awesome one and so Gangeya came to be called Bhishma, the terrible.

  By Satyavati, Santanu begot two sons, Chitrangada and Vichitravtrya. The elder one died in battle, Bhishma installed Vichitravirya on the throne of Hastinapura and carried away the daughters of the King of Kashi, two of whom were married to the boy king.

  Vichitravirya, while still a boy, died issueless. Bhishma would not marry, nor accept the throne. The royal line of the Kurus was threatened with extinction.

  On the advice of Bhishma, Satyavati, the Dowager Empress, called on Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, her son by the Sage Parashara, to beget sons on the widows of Vichitravtrya according to an ancient custom.

  Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa had been brought up by his father in the strictest tradition of the Vedic rishis, of which his great grandfather, Vasishtha, was one of the founders.

  By his learning and austerity, Vyasa had acquired the highest position among the rishis of Aryavarta. He had also written down the divine Vedas, which the Gods had communicated to the ancient sages of immortal memory, of whom his forefather was one of the most eminent.

  To perpetuate the line of the Kurus, the Sage accepted his mother's command. By Ambikaa, he begot Dhritarashtra who was blind from birth. By Ambalikaa he begot Pandu, who was afflicted by disease from his very birth. By a maid-servant who offered herself in devotion to the Sage, he begot Vidura.

  Bhishma brought up the three boys with care and wisdom. Dhritarashtra being blind could not succeed to the throne, and the younger son Pandu ruled over the Kuru empire well and wisely, earning immense popularity. Vidura, the maid's son, grew up to become a wise and saintly minister.

  The blind Dhritarashtra was married to Gandhari and by her begot Duryodhana, Duhshasana and several other sons.

  Pandu was married to Kunti, the sister of Vasudeva, Krishna's father, and also to Madri, a princess of Madra. Afflicted by a curse which denied him the pleasures of life, the King retired to the Himalayas with his wives. With the permission of their husband and the blessings of different gods, they begot five sons, Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna and the twins, Nakula and Sahadeva.

  On King Pandu's death, Madri, his younger queen followed her husband to the funeral pyre, entrusting her two sons to the care of the other, older widow, Kunti. The sages brought Kunti and the Five Brothers to Hastinapura, where by the advice of Veda Vyasa, Bhishma accepted them as the sons and heirs of Pandu.

  The Five Brothers, grew up handsome, strong and well-conducted, and became favourites of all, to the chagrin of Duryodhana, Duhshasana and others of their cousins.

  Dronacharya, a pupil of Parashurama, the great master of art of war, was employed by Bhishma to give training to the princes. Even during their training, the Five Brothers excelled their cousins in learning as well as skill in arms.

  When their training was over, they helped their guru, Dronacharya, to win for himself the northern part of territories of the Panchala, ruled by King Yajnasena, otherwise known as Drupada.

  All the Five Brotherss became popular with the Kurus. The eldest of them, Yudhishthira, came to be regarded as Dharmaraja-righteousness incarnate. Bhishma, therefore, installed him as the yuvaraja or Crown Prince of Hastinapura, for, besides being fully qualified, his father Pandu had been the last king to sit on the throne of the Kurus.

  After Yudhishthira was installed as yuvaraja, Bhima, the second of the Five Brothers went to Mathura to complete his training in mace-combat under Balarama, who was the recognized master of that art.

  That was just before the Yadavas, afraid of being exterminated by the Emperor Jarasandha of Magadha, went away to Saurashtra, led by Krishna.

  THE FIVE BROTHERS

  King Yajnasena Drupada of Panchala had taken a vow to destroy Dronacharya, his erstwhile friend and fellow-student who had, with the assistance of the Five Brothers, the sons of Pandu, wrested the northern part of Panchala from him. In order to succeed in his rum, he decided to give his daughter to the best warrior in Aryavarta and offered her to Krishna Vasudeva, the Yadava Chief, who had come to be acknowledged the most formidable warrior in Aryavarta. Krishna, however, would not accept the offer, but promised to visit Kampilya.

  On being invited by his cousin Yudhishthira, the Crown Prince of Hastinapura to come to Hastinapura, Krishna proceeded to the North. Before he reached Hastinapura, however, he learnt that the Five Brothers had been banished to Varanavata at the instance of Duryodhana, the eldest son of King Dhritarashtra.

  When he reached Hastinapura, he further learnt with great sorrow and disappointment that the Five Brothers, who had been housed in a palace made of lac at Varanavata, had been burnt alive.

  From Hastinapura, Krishna proceeded to Kampilya. Though he did not accept Draupadi's hand which Drupada offered him, he promised to help king Drupada in selecting the best warrior as her husband.

  Krishna sent his friend Uddhava to enquire into the mystery of the death of the Five Brothers. In the course of his search Uddhava went to Nagakoota, ruled over by the Naga King Aryaka who was his father's maternal grandfather. There he accidentally discovered that the Five Brothers were alive and living in a forest in Rakshasavarta, the Land of Demons.

  Uddhava followed the scent and discovered that Bhima, the second of the Five Brothers, had by his superhuman might killed Hidimba, the ruler of Rakshasavarta, married his sister, Hidimbaa and become the ruler of that kingdom, under the name of King Vrikodara.

  The Five Brothers declined to come out of Rakshasavarta till they received a message advising them to do so from the Master, Veda Vyasa, and Krishna.

  Uddhava conveyed this message to Vidura, the saintly Minister of Hastlnapura, who carried it to the Most Venerable Mother Satyavati, the grandmother of King Dhritarashtra and Pandu. She then invited her son, Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, the Master, the greatest rishi in Aryavarta, to induce the Five Brothers to leave the Land of the Demons and attend the swayamvara of Draupadi.

  The Kuru princes also wanted to attend the swayamvara, Duryodhana, the eldest having set his heart on marrying Draupadi against the advice of Dronacharya the military leader of the Kurus.

  Jarasandha, the Emperor of Maga
dha, also attended the swayamvara in order to secure Draupadi as a wife for his grandson Meghasandhi. The Emperor was prepared to kidnap the bride before the swayamvara if King Drupada was unwilling to comply with his demand.

  In the meantime, the Five Brothers, the Pandavas, in the guise of Brahmans, came to Kampilya to attend the swayamvara and were living in a potter's house.

  King Drupada, his sons and daughter Draupadi were unnerved at the prospect of Jarasandha kidnapping her, or Duryodhana, being an expert archer, winning the contest at the swayamvara. Anticipating this move on the part of his old enemy, Krishna met him, and compelled him not to take part in the swayamvara, but to leave Kampilya.

  At the swayamvara, king after king, including Duryodhana, failed to win the contest, but Arjuna, in the guise of a Brahman, stepped into the arena, shot down the target, a whirling fish, and won Draupadi.

  Kunti, not knowing what kind of award it was that Arjuna had secured, asked him to divide whatever he had got among the Brothers equally. When she discovered that Arjuna had secured a bride, a great psychological and social crisis arose in the family. Nobody would reconcile himself to Draupadi's marrying five husbands. In the meantime, the Master arrived and, after all possible ways of getting out of the difficulty had been discussed, he left it to Draupadi to decide. She decided to marry all Five Brothers.

  When the news came to Hastinapura that the Five Brothers were alive and had secured Princess Draupadi as their wife, Grandfather Bhishma and King Dhritarashtra sent Vidura, the Minister, to Kampilya to invite the Five Brothers, and also Krishna and Balarama, to Hastinapura.

  KRISHNAVATARA

  VOLUME IV

  THE BOOK OF BHIMA

  1. DRAUPADI'S BRIDAL NIGHT

  It was the end of the month of Pausha.1 Chill winds were blowing.

  In one of the palaces in Kampilya, Krishnaa, the daughter of King Yajnasena Drupada of Panchala and therefore called Draupadi, sat in her bedroom, her chin in her hands. She was awaiting the arrival of her husband Yudhishthira, son of Pandu of the Kurus, the deceased Emperor of Hastinapura.

  Draupadi was dark in colour, tall and graceful, with beautiful expressive eyes and a chin indicating strength.

  She was richly dressed, as a bride meeting her husband on the first night should be. A large diamond shone in the middle of her forehead, suspended by a tiny strand woven of thin braids of hair. The jewels in her ears and her golden rings, necklaces, girdle and armlets, scintillated in the flickering light of the several oil lamps which lighted the room.

  Over her bare shoulders, she had thrown a rich woollen shawl embroidered in gold. A charcoal fire burned in a container and filled the room with the fragrance of sandalwood.

  A game board of tender deer-skin in the shape of a cross, lay at her side. It had four sets of squares of the colour of gold, silver, bronze and copper. On it lay pieces in four different colours and dice made of ivory. Custom had it that the bridal night must begin with an auspicious game of dice.

  With her eyes fixed on the door, she was recalling the stages of the strange fate which had made her the wife of the Five Brothers.2

  Months before, her father Drupada had been wantonly made a prisoner by Dronacharya, the military leader of the Kurus and an erstwhile fellow-student, and deprived of a part of his territory. Her father had then taken a vow to avenge the wrong.

  As she was a devoted daughter, she had also taken a vow to marry the best warrior in Aryavarta in order to help her father to redeem his pledge.

  At first she had been offered by her father to Krishna, son of Vasudeva, a Yadava Chief of Dwaraka. He was reputed to be the best warrior in Aryavarta and a hero who could work miracles. But he had come to Kampilya, and, though courteously rejecting the offer, had promised to stand by her father. He had advised him to hold a swayamvara for her in the best traditions of the Arya kings.

  Krishna had indeed performed a miracle. Kings from all parts of Aryavarta and even outside had come to the swayamvara, and her father had been hailed as the royalest of kings.

  Jarasandha, the formidable Emperor of Magadha, had also come to win her by negotiation or force for his grandson Meghasandhi. His object, however, was frustrated. Krishna had seen to it, Jarasandha had to retire from the swayamvara with whatever grace he could command.

  Duryodhana of the Kurus, the wicked yuvaraja, the Crown Prince of Hastinapura, who was bent on winning her, had also failed to gain the contest.

  To the amazement of all, the Five Brothers, the sons of the Emperor Pandu, who according to reports, had been burnt to death at the instance of their cousin Duryodhana, sprang to life at the swayamvara. The third of them, Arjuna, reckoned the master bowman of Aryavarta, won the contest and her as well.

  Then she had to marry all the five sons of Pandu—the Five Brothers; a strange fate for an Arya princess of the highest rank. It was a nightmare of an experience.

  Curiously enough, the Sage, Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa—generally referred to as Swami or the Master—had arrived in Kampilya the next day after the swayamvara. He said that such marriages under extraordinary circumstances had the sanction of ancient custom. But he had left her free to decide to marry either all the Five Brothers or only Arjuna who had won the contest. Inspired by the conviction that it was the only right way, she had accepted all the Five Brothers as her husbands.

  Krishna Vaasudeva,-Govinda was the endearing name by which she called him – who had dedicated his life to the triumph of Dharma, had, before the swayamvara, invited her to be his partner in this grand venture. At that moment she had felt that the decision which she took was necessary to promote it.

  During the fourteen days of the post-nuptial ceremonies, though she had been oppressed by the thought of being a wife of five husbands, she had been happy. In Kunti, the mother of the Five Brothers –so considerate, tolerant and understanding – she had found a long-lost mother.

  In a variety of ways, Mother Kunti had conveyed to her that all her sons were good and she would never repent having entered into such an extra-ordinary relationship. However, Draupadi trembled at the very thought: Would she able to make them all happy?

  Yudhishthira, the eldest, was handsome – as all the Five Brothers were – and carried himself with quiet dignity. He had a friendly smile for everyone, and wise and understanding eyes. He had a way of talking, so transparently sincere that it was difficult to have mental reservations in his presence.

  Anyhow she felt like running away from this first meeting with him. Govinda, who had come to meet her that morning, had, in his inscrutable way, hinted that something was going to happen—something unexpected and far-reaching—if she would only do her best. If something good was going to happen, Draupadi thought, it would surely be the result of the uncanny way in which Krishna contrived things. But he had a knack of flattering her by attributing all the good things to her. However, it gave her the self-confidence which she had been lacking before.

  Her heart was bursting with excitement when Yudhishthira, her husband, came in with his kindly smile and his eyes beaming with affection, and closed the door. Draupadi stood up. Modestly, she looked down as a bride should, though, shrewd as she was, she tried to gauge the mind and mood of her husband by a stealthy glance.

  Looking at her, Yudhishthira laughed reassuringly. ‘Draupadi, are you happy?’ he asked her. His tone was affectionate and indulgent.

  She looked up. His eyes expressed a rare tenderness, and her confidence in herself was restored. He took off his diadem and was going to reach out for the recess where he wanted to place it, when she took a step forward and extended her hand. She always did this when her father took off his diadem in her presence.

  As a wife, she felt she must do the same for her husband. He laughed again. The laugh was frank and affectionate. And he gave her the diadem. Then he took off his heavy necklace and gave it to her. She placed them in the recess.

  ‘Sit down, Draupada’s daughter. You must be tired,’ said Yudhishthira, as he sat down, leaning
against the cushion.

  She sat down near his feet.

  ‘Your coming to us has been very auspicious,’ he said, speaking with a sincerity which gave special emphasis to the words. Like her, he was also far from clear how the conversation was to be sustained, and he paused.

  After a while, he asked: ‘Who, do you think, came this evening?’ The way in which he said it was so friendly that it took the edge of whatever hesitation she had been feeling so far.

  ‘I have no idea, lord,’ she said haltingly. It was a strange experience, calling a stranger of yesterday the lord of today. But she had become his wife,- as the Master had explained—the bone of his bone, the blood of his blood, the skin of his skin, as soon as she had taken the seven steps around the sacred fire at the marriage.

  ‘My Uncle Vidura has suddenly arrived this evening. He has brought the blessings of Grandfather and my Uncle Dhritarashtra, and a boatful of presents. They have invited us to Hastinapura’ said Yudhishthira.

  The joy in Yudhishthira’s voice was infectious. Draupadi’s face flushed with joy. She had never expected that her husband’s uncle King Dhritarashtra and Grandfather Bhishma would invite them to Hastinapura so promptly. She did not know what to say and all she could find to say was ‘Who is your Uncle Vidura?’

  ‘He is the principal minister of the Kurus,’ he said and then, warming up, added: ‘He is very much more. He is the wisest man alive. He has been a father to us. We would have been burnt alive at Varanavata as Duryodhana wanted us to be, if he had not helped us to escape. I am sure you will like him. He attracts people like a magnet.’

  Draupadi smiled.

  ‘Uncle Vidura says that Grandfather is going to install me as King,’ said Yudhishthira shyly as if he doubted his own worthiness.