BHIMA AVATAR - PART 2

duruLa kIchakanu droupadiya cheluvikege

maruLAgi karakariya mADalavanA

garaDimaneyoLu barasi orisi avananvayava

kurupanaTTida mallakulava savarida ll18ll

duruLa = evil

kIchakanu = kIchaka (the name of an evil rAkshAsa)

droupadiya = droupadi'scheluvikege = beauty

maruLAgi = become infatuated

karakariya = harassment

mADalavanA = doing

garaDimaneyoLu = dance hall

barasi = made him come

orisi = wipe out

avananvayava = his existence

kurupanaTTida = the king of kurus (duryOdhana)

mallakulava = army of wrestlers

savarida = killed

When the evil kIchaka, infatuated by droupadi's beauty, started harassing her,

bhIma invited him to the dancing hall and killed him. He then proceeded to defeat

the army of wrestlers sent by the King of Kurus (duryOdhana).

At the end of their twelve years stay in the forest, the pAnDavas were supposed

to stay on an false identity (incognito) for one year. The terms were such that if they were detected

during this year they would have to spend another 12 years in the forest. The

pAnDavas chose matsya kingdom for their secret stay. This was ruled by

virAtrAja, a weak and ineffective king. The real power behind the throne was his

brother-in-law kIchaka, his wife sudhEshNa's brother.

yudhiShTira became the king's advisor, bhIma a cook, arjuna a eunuch teaching

dancing to the princess, nakula and sahadeva cowherds, and draupadi a maid

serving the queen.

kIchaka was a very powerful and evil warrior. His prowess as a wrestler was

legendary. Once, when he was with his sister after returning from a successful

tour of conquest, his lustful eyes fell on droupadi. Ignoring his sister's pleas

he made some unwelcome advances at droupadi. Unable to tolerate this, droupadi

asked bhIma for help. bhIma asked her to invite him to the dancing hall that

night. kIchaka gladly agreed. That night, bhIma took on the form of a beautiful

damsel and completely bowled over kIchaka. Finally, he thrashed kIchaka to

death with his bare fists. Once again, he had rid the earth of a powerful and

evil bully who had made a lot of people miserable.

bhIma took on the form of a beautiful damsel                Bhima trashing kIchaka

kIchaka's brothers attacked droupadi to avenge kIchaka's death, but bhIma killed

all of them and protected her.

When duryOdhana heard of the death of kIchaka, he suspected the hand of bhIma

since there was nobody else who could do it. He immediately sent a group of

wrestlers to matsya, who challenged the king to find wrestlers who could fight

with them. Since it was a question of the kingdom's pride, yudhiShTira asked

bhIma to fight with them, which he did. duryOdhana's wrestlers were soundly

defeated.

After this, duryOdhana attacked matsya in order to expose the pAnDavas. arjuna

became Prince uttara's charioteer and defeated the kourava army. At the end of

the war, duryOdhana identified the pAnDavas, but they argued that since 13 years

had passed since their banishment there should be no penalty. However,

duryOdhana contested this saying that according to the solar calendar there were

still 5 months left. Finally, bhIshma and vidura ruled in favor of the pAnDavas

saying that according to the lunar calendar, which was prevalent then, 13 years

had indeed passed, thus negating duryOdhana's claim.

The grateful virAtrAja offered his daugther uttara's hand in marraige to arjuna,

but he accepted her as his daughter-in-law, i.e, as his son abhimanyu's bride.

Having completed the terms of their banishment, the pAnDavas returned to claim

their portion of the kingdom.

kouravara bala savari vairigaLa neggotti

Orante kouravana muridu mereda

vairi dushyAsanana raNadali eDegeDehi (toDeya laDDageDahi)

vIranarahariya lIleya tOrida ll19ll

kouravara = the kauravas

bala = strength

savari = ruin

vairigaLa = enemies

neggotti = broke their bones

Orante = as described above

kouravana = duryOdhana

muridu = broke (his thighs)

mereda = rejoiced

vairi = enemy

dushyAsanana = dushyAsana

raNadali = in the battle

eDegeDehi = kicked him to the ground

vIra = brave warrior

narahariya = narasimha

lIleya = sport or glory

tOrida = showed

He reduced the strength of the kouravAs, ruined enemies and broke duryOdhana

(i.e., his thighs). He humbled and then destroyed dushyAsana in the battle. He

thus demonstrated the glory (or greatness) of narahari (Krishna).

During droupadi's vastrApaharaNa bhIma had taken several oaths - to kill

dushyAsana, duryOdhana and the rest of dhrutarAshtra's sons. During the

kurukshEtra war, he single-handedly killed all of the kauravas. He destroyed

close to 6 out of the 11 akOshiNis (I dont know the modern equivalent -

battalion or division?) that the kauravas had assembled.On the 

battlefield, he resembled the God of Death himself, displaying

 unmatched ferociousness and courage, striking terror in the hearts of the enemy. 

He chased major commanders of the enemy army and attacked them with an 

intensity that was unheard of. Most of them lost their lives, while some

 lucky ones escaped with just a few broken bones. Overall, he throroughly 

demoralized the enemy and reduced it to a bunch of cowards in his presence.

While the war was going on, bhIma was constantly searching for dushyAsana in

order to make him pay him for his vile deeds. But dushyAsana the coward was

constantly eluding him. Finally, when bhIma met him face-to-face, his joy knew

no bounds. He jumped on him like a lion jumps on a deer, destroyed his chariot

and threw him down on the ground. He then split dushyAsana's chest with his

mace, sat on his stomach and made a big hole in his chest, creating a pool of

blood. He then pretended to drink dushyAsana's blood and reminded him of every

one of his misdeeds. He challenged the rest of the kaurava army to rescue

dushyAsana if they could, but the terrible sight curdled the blood of even

hardened warriors and no one dared to come near him. The vile and foul

dushyAsana thus got his just desserts, in the manner bhIma had promised.

droupadi's vastrApaharaNa

A point to note is that bhIma did not actually drink the blood since the

scriptures expressly forbid partaking of human blood. He ensured that the blood

did not cross his clenched teeth, thus protecting his dharma. The whole thing

was a big act, mainly to strike terror in the kourava army and demoralize it

thoroughly. And also to show the world what a terrible fate awaited people who

insulted and humiliated hari bhaktas. Indeed this was the reason why hari

incarnated as narasimha and showed the world his fearsome form. In fact, the

words "narahariya lIleya" have been used only to drive home the similarity

between bhIma's act and that of narasimha. And also to remind us that both the

acts, through gruesome to behold, were steeped in dharma, without even a trace

of adharma.

Another point to note is that as bhIma was killing dushyAsana, he "saw" or

glimpsed manyu sUkta. That is why he is considered one of the "drashTAs" or

"rishis" of manyu sUkta.

Towards the end of the war, when duryOdhana sensed defeat, he ran away and hid

in a lake. He was reciting the mantra that had been taught to him by dUrvasa.

These mantras were so potent that if duryOdhana were to recite them for a week,

staying under water his dead army would have regained life, and become

invincible. krishNa knew this, so he brought the pAnDavas to the lake and

instructed yudhiShTira to insult duryOdhana by calling him a coward. When this

was done, the arrogant duryOdhana came to the surface and challanged the

pAnDavas. He was given the option of choosing one of the pAnDavas with a weapon

of his choice; the understanding was that he succeeded in defeating his

opponent, victory was his.

duryOdhana chose the mace as his weapon and bhIma as his opponent since the

others were no match for him. Finally, bhima broke his thighs and incapacitated

him. When members of the kaurava army remonstrated saying that hitting an

opponent on his thighs was against the rules of mace fighting, krishNa defended

bhIma's action saying that he had kept his oath of breaking duryOdhana's thighs.Also, bhIma had struck him on the waist and not below, thus avoiding violating

the rules of combat. Thus bhIma killed the last of the kauravas and kept all of

his oaths. He submitted his entire action as an offering at the feet of krishNa.

In fact, throughout his life, every single asura or demo killed by bhIma was

offered as a 'bali-pashu' to krishNa, the acceptor of all yagna offerings. The

sole objective behind his acts was 'hari-prIti' and not to serve as a display of

his individual strength or greatness.

gurusutanu sangaradi nArAyaNAstravanu

uravaNisi biDalu shastrava bisuTaru

harikRupeya paDedirda bhIma hunkAradali

hariya divyAstravanu nere aTTida ll20ll

gurusutanu = teacher's son (drONa's son ashvaththAma)

sangaradi = in the battle

nArAyaNAstravanu = the fiery missile called nArAyaNAastra

uravaNisi = at a very high speed

biDalu = hurl

shastrava = missile

bisutaru = threw or hurled

harikRupeya = hari's grace

paDedirda = having achieved bhIma

hunkAradali = with a breath

hariya = hari's

divyAstravanu = divine missile

nere = aside

aTTida = chased away

In the kurukshEtra battle, ashwatthAma, the son of drONa, issued the

nArAyaNAstra (a powerful and dreaded missile) on bhIma in order to reduce him to

ashes. On krishNa's orders, everybody else threw down their weapons (to save

themselves). However, bhIma, who had the complete blessings of hari (nArAyaNa)

Himself, easily averted the missile with a breath.

drONa, the teacher of the kauravas and pAnDavas had a son called ashvatthAma. He

is considered to be an amsha of rudra. As soon as he was born he neighed (sound that horse makes) like a

horse, and an celestial voice asked drONa to name his son as ashvatthAma. He was

brought up on horsegram juice, something that even adults cannot digest easily.

He was a very great warrior, skilled in the use of all weapons. He is considered

to be one of the immortals (chiranjIvis) and is believed to be alive even today.

During the kurukshEtra war, when Dronacharya had been led to believe that his

son Ashwatthama was dead, he lost interest in the battle and even in life, and

was killed by Dhrishtadyumna as he sat to meditate on the battlefield. When

Ashwatthama came to know of Drona's killing, he took the extreme step of

 usingthe nArAyaNAstra (a powerful and dreaded missile) to thrash the Pandavas in

one shot.

Ashwatthama use Narayanastra

krishNa knew that no other missile or weapon could match this missile and the

only defence against this missile was total surrender. Accordingly, He ordered

the entire pAnDava army to throw down their weapons and bow their heads in total

submission. Everybody including arjuna did this; the only exception was bhIma.

He refused saying that as a warrior he could not bend his head to save his life,

as that would be an act of cowardice. So, he continued to bear arms and confront

the weapon as that was pure kshatriya-dharma.

BhIma knew very clearly that the power behind the nArAyaNAstra was nArAyaNA,

and the power protecting him too was nArAyaNA. So, when the attacker is the

same as the defender, where is the cause for fear? One just needs to do one's

duty and leave the rest to Him.Lucky is the one who has devotion to such a merciful Lord!

Fortunate is the one who can point to such a great devotee and say "A vAyu namma kula guru

rAyanu"

(There was never an instance where Bhimasena and Krishna were not completely in

synchronism; this however could not be said of others, who on occasion did find

fault with Krishna. BalarAma, for instance, felt dislike towards Krishna

believing Him to have misappropriated the `syamantaka' gem. There are other

instances where Arjuna and others "close to Krishna" such as Pradyumna, Uddhava,

Samba, Aniruddha, etc., all were similarly guilty. Throughout the entire

mahabhArata, the only two persons who never moved away from total and complete

devotion to Krishna were bhIma and draupadi.

chanDavikrama gadegonDu raNadoLage bhU

manDaladoLidirAdanta khaLaranella

hinDi bisuTida vrukOdarana pratApavanu

kanDu nilluvarAru tribhuvanadoLu ll21ll

chanDavikrama = unmatched in defeating enemies on the battlefield

gadegonDu = caryying the mace

raNadoLage = in war

bhUmanDaladoL = on the Earth

idirAdanta = coming face-to-face (or meeting)

KaLaranella = all the bad and evil people

hinDi = wrenching

bisutida = throw out

vrukOdarana = another name for bhIma

pratApavanu = bravery

kanDu = seeing

nilluvarAru = who can stand (withstand)

tribhuvanadoLu = in all the 3 worlds

When bhIma, a ferocious and undefeated warrior, roams the warfield with his

mace, destroying all the enemies confronting him, who in all the three worlds

can stand up against his prowess?

Even though all the incarnations of vAyu are equally capable, in terms of bala

(strength) and gyAna (knowledge), each incarnation has a special focus, based on

the demands of the situation. The second incarnation as bhIma was known as a

fearsome and unmatched warrior, who inspired fear in the hearts of his enemies,

and who never tasted defeat, even once. In contrast, the other hero of the

kurukshEtra (arjuna), tasted defeat several times in his life (all of these were

when krishna was not around to save him). In strength, courage, steadfastness in

the face of adversity, there was nobody who could match bhIma, let alone exceed.

As we all know, the focus of the third incarnation, madhvAchArya, was on gyAna.

However, once in a while, he displayed flashes of his legendary strength and

bravery. When he was given a huge quantity of milk and bananas, by somebody who

doubted the fact he was an incarnation of vAyu, he polished them off quite

easily. He is also supposed to have lifted a huge boulder with ease, which

scores of people could not even move. While visiting kurukshEtra, he showed his

disciples the place where bhIma's mace was hidden.

gadegonDu raNadoLage

This has 2 references; the more straightforward one is to bhIma's favorite

weapon - the mace. He was unmatched when he marched the battlefield with

 his mace proudly resting on his shoulders. But then, he was unmatched even with his bare

fists. So the reference to the mace is a pointer to something more subtle.

It is said that the 3 types of jIvas - sAtvikas, rAjasikas, tAmasikas - get rid

of their linga-dEha (a type of covering that the jIva has from time immemorial,

and which goes away only when the jIva is ready for its final destination) in 3

different ways. sAtvikas lose it when they take a bath in the virajA river along

with brahma. rAjasikas lose it through vAyu's breath. tAmasikas lose it when vAyu

hits them with his mace; thereafter they proceed to tamas (dark and unending

hell).

So, one may conclude that shrIpAdarAjaru is saying, in a poetic way, that not

only does he despatch demons from this world with his mace, but also sends them

to their final destination with it.

In the harivAyu stuti, shrI trivikrama panDitAchArya has beautifully described

his inadequacy to describe bhIma's bravery in the verse "kShvElAkShINATTahAsam

....". He finally concludes that only 2 people can do justice to this topic -

vEdavyAsa (the author of bhArata) and madhvAchArya himself - and offers his

heartfelt salutations to them.

Another aspect to remember is that even though bhIma was the most powerful

person of his times (with the exception of krishNa, of course), his power and

strength were always used to destroy lOka kanTakaru (evil people who were a

source of misery to society), and never for any personal gain.

As was stated in a previous posting, every single asura or demon killed by bhIma

was offered as a 'bali-pashu' to krishNa, the acceptor of all yagna offerings.

In the hearts of such evil people, his very name used to cause jitters.

There is a very popular misconception about the meaning of this

name (vrukOdarana). A direct translation means somebody who has a

wolf-like stomach, i.e, is a ravenous eater. bhIma's legendary ability to consume

huge amounts of food lendscredibility to this misconception. The real meaning

 and origin of this name is totally different.

Every jIva has a jaThArAgni (flame) in its stomach. This is a form of the Lord,

and helps the jIva digest its food. vAyu's jaThArAgni is the most potent amongst

all jIvas and the form of the Lord that spread this flame is called "vruka".

Hence the term "vrukOdara" really means one who carries "vruka" in his stomach.

It is this which gives vAyu the ability to digest gigantic amounts of food.

One needs to understand that when bhIma ate food, he did so as a naivEdya to the

Lord within him, and not because he was hungry or could not survive without

food. vAyu is the life force that keeps 8,400,000 types of species alive and

kicking; every act of every jIva is performed under his supervision. So,

associating human-like frailities such as hunger, thirst, etc - with him is very

foolish and goes against what is said in the scriptures.

nArirOdana kELi manamarugigurusutana

hArhiDidu shirOratna kitti tegeda

nIroLaDagidda duryOdhanana horageDahi

Uruyuga tanna gadeyinda murida ll22ll

nArirOdana = woman's wail

kELi = on hearing

manamarugi = feeling sympathy

gurusutana = son of guru (ashwatthAma)

hArhiDidu = quickly caught

shirOratna = jewel in the head

kitti tegeda = (he) fiercely pulled out

nIroLaDagidda = the one who had hidden in the water

duryOdhanana = duryOdhana

horagedahi = pull out

Uruyuga = thigh

tanna = his

gadeyinda = with his mace

murida = broke

Upon hearing the sobbing of droupadi, his heart melted with compassion. He then

caught ashwaththAma, the son of his teacher (and also the offender of the

terrible crime) and stripped him of his birth-stone (the source of all his

powers). He pulled out duryOdhana who was hiding in the water and broke his

thigh with his mace.

At the end of the kurukshEtra war, ashwatthAma spent time with the fallen

duryOdhana and asked him "What do you want me to do?" duryOdhana said "Get rid

of the pAnDavas". He then performed the abhisheka of ashwatthAma with dust and

asked him to produce a son from duryOdhana's wife and continue the line of

kauravas further.

ashwatthAma agreed and went to the camp of the pAnDavas in the middle of the

night. He woke up the sleeping drushtadhyumna (droupadi's brother) and killed

him mercilessly, without giving him a chance to pick up weapons and fight.

Finally, he set fire to the tent in which he thought the pAnDavas were sleeping.

Unfortunately for him, it was not the pAnDavas but their sons who were sleeping

there. ashwatthAma then ran to duryOdhana and gave him the good news. duryOdhana

died peacefully after this.

duryOdhana destroyed by Bhima

droupadi lamented the death of her sons and asked the pAnDavas to avenge this.

bhIma, krishna and the rest of the pAnDavas went in pursuit of ashwatthAma. When

ashwatthAma saw the fierce rage of bhIma he remembered what had happened todushyAsana

and panicked. In order to escape bhIma's attack he fired the

brahmAstra at him. Immediately arjuna fired another brahmAstra to counter that

even though he knew fully well that bhIma was the abhimAni devata (patron diety)

of the brahmAstra and was thus immune to its awesome power.

vEdayvyAsa came there and chided arjuna and ashwatthAma for releasing such a

powerful weapon without thinking of the impact it would have on the rest of

creation. He asked them to withdraw the weapon immediately. arjuna was able to

do so, but ashwatthAma could not do so because he had lost his moral power by

agreeing to produce a son from duryOdhana's wife.

ashwatthAma had a divine maNi (pearl) in his head from birth. This potent jewel

had the power to a ward off death, disease, old-age, hunger, thirst, darkness,

ignorance etc. It was one of the main sources of ashwatthAma's strength.

vEdavyAsa then asked ashwatthAma to give his maNi to bhIma as compensation for

firing brahmAstra at him and for his inability to withdraw it. ashwatthAma

immediately complied with vEdavyAsa's order. vEdavyAsa then asked arjuna to

withdraw the brahmAstra discharged by ashwatthAma, which he did.

droupadi lamented the death of her sons and asked the pAnDavas to avenge this.

bhIma, krishna and the rest of the pAnDavas went in pursuit of ashwatthAma. When

ashwatthAma saw the fierce rage of bhIma he remembered what had happened todushyAsana

and panicked. In order to escape bhIma's attack he fired the

brahmAstra at him. Immediately arjuna fired another brahmAstra to counter that

even though he knew fully well that bhIma was the abhimAni devata (patron diety)

of the brahmAstra and was thus immune to its awesome power.

vEdayvyAsa came there and chided arjuna and ashwatthAma for releasing such a

powerful weapon without thinking of the impact it would have on the rest of

creation. He asked them to withdraw the weapon immediately. arjuna was able to

do so, but ashwatthAma could not do so because he had lost his moral power by

agreeing to produce a son from duryOdhana's wife.

Ashwatthama and Brahmashirastra

ashwatthAma had a divine maNi (pearl) in his head from birth. This potent jewel

had the power to a ward off death, disease, old-age, hunger, thirst, darkness,

ignorance etc. It was one of the main sources of ashwatthAma's strength.

vEdavyAsa then asked ashwatthAma to give his maNi to bhIma as compensation for

firing brahmAstra at him and for his inability to withdraw it. ashwatthAma

immediately complied with vEdavyAsa's order. vEdavyAsa then asked arjuna to

withdraw the brahmAstra discharged by ashwatthAma, which he did.

BHIMA AVATAR - Part 1

It is important to know how kunti got the mantra that lead eventually to the

birth of all pAnDavas.

King shUrarAja had a daughter named pRuthu. His friend, King kuntibhOja was

issueless. So, shUrarAja let his friend adopt his daughter. From then on, she

became known as kunti.

"tatrAgamachChamkarAmshOatikOpO durvAsAstam prAha mAm vAsyEti

tamAha rAjA yadikanyakAyAh kShamiShyasE shaktitah karmakartrAh

sukham vasEtyOmiti tEna chOktE shushrUNAyAdishadAshu kuntIm

chakAra karma sA pRuthA munEh sukOpanasya hi

yatha na shakyatE paraih sharIravA.gmanOanugA

sa vatsaratrayOdasham tayA yathAvadarchitah

upAdishat param manum samasta dEvavashyadam"

(M.B.T.N (mahAbhArata tAtparyanirNaya )  canto 11 verses 149 - 152)

dUrvAsa, a very short-tempered saint, and an incarnation of rudra, came there

(to kuntibhOjA's palace). He requested Kuntibhoja "let me stay in your house."

Kuntibhoja countered, "You may do so, provided you promise to overlook any minor

imperfections committed by the maiden that I will appoint for your service, somebody

who will serve you to the best of her ability." dUrvAsa agreed to this condition

and kuntibhOja then appointed kunti for the service of the saint.

kunti served the saint for 13 years, in a manner that others could not, with

heart and soul. He was pleased by this and then taught her a mantra that could

attract any god of her choice.

Later, as desired by bhIshma, she married King pAnDu. Since pAnDu was under a

curse, kunti had to use the mantra to invite different gods to bless her with

children.

The pandavas were part of the lineage that originated from the moon. This

lineage was blessed to have many pious kings like kuru, virUtha, manyu, hasti

etc.

It is well known that the 5 pAnDavas were the incarnations of different gods -

yama (yudhishtira), vAyu (bhIma), indra (arjuna), ashwini devatas (nakula and

sahadEva). However, not many know that vAyu was present in all the 5 pAnDavas,

albeit in different forms.

"yudhiShtarAdyEShu chaturShu vAyussmAviShtah phalgunEeatO

vishEshAt | yudhiShtirE soumyarupENa viShtah virENa rupENa

dhananjayEasou | shRungArarUpam kEvalam darshayAnO vivEsha

vAyuhu yamoujapradhAnah | shRungAra kaivalyamababhIpsmAnah

pAnDurhiputram chakamE chaturtham | shRungArarUpO nakulE

vishEShat sunItirUpah sahadEvam vivEsha | guNaisyamastai

svayamEva vAyuhu babhUva bhUmou jagadantarAtma | supalla

vAkAratanurhi kOmalah prAyO janaih prOchyatE rUpashAli |

tatassujAtou varavajrakAyou bhImarjunAvapyutE pAnDuraichChat |

aprAkRutANAm tu manOharam yadrUpam dvAtrimshallaShaNOpEtmagryam |

 tanmArutO nakulO kOmalAbha Evam vayuhu panache Upoatra chAsIt|"

(M.B.T.N Canto 12/129 -133)

vAyu was (also) present in (the other) 4 pAndavas (yudhishtira, arjuna, nakula

and sahadEva). His peaceful form was present in yudhishtira, whereas it was the

herioc form in arjuna. Since pAnDu wanted a beautiful son, vAyu showed his

beautiful side in nakula and sahadEva. His sunIti form (representing justice and

wisdom) entered sahadEva. He manifested himself in his true form, the one which

pervades and controls the whole world, complete with all good qualities, as

bhIma. It is the way of the world that only somebody who has a tender and supple

body is considered handsome. Thus even though arjuna and bhIma were extremely

good looking, they were not considered handsome because of their good physique

and tough bodies. That is why, pAnDu wanted a handsome son after bhIma and

arjuna, and that is what he got with nakula. bhIma's form was perfect and had

all the 32 signs prescribed for a perfect physique (something that only

Celestials could discern).

A mArutane bhImanenisi dvAparadi

sOmakuladalli janisi pArtharoDane

bhImavikrama rakkasara muridoTTida

A mahima namma kulagururAyanu ll12ll

A mArutane = the same mAruti

bhImanenisi = became bhIma

dvAparadi = in dvApara

sOmakuladalli = in the lineage of the moon

janisi = took birth

pArtharoDane = with pArtha (arjuna) and others

bhImavikrama = powerful and ferocious

rakkasara = demons

muridoTTida = destroyed

A mahima = the same great entity

namma = our

kulugururAyanu = kula + guru + rAyanu

= chief amongst the gurus of our clan

The same mAruti was born in dvApara yuga in the lineage of the moon as bhIma,

along with pArtha (arjuna) and others. This valiant and fierce warrior destroyed

rAkshasAs. This great person is the guru of our line.

Before starting on the bhImAvatara, it is important to know the meaning of the

word 'bhIma'. This is defined as

"bhRutAh mAh yasmin sah bhImah"

The one in whom knowledge of the seven scriptures is full. Here the seven

scriptures are the 4 vedas, mUla rAmAyaNa, mahabhArata and pancharAtra. These

describe the Lord and sing His praises.

Let us compare this with how the *baLitthah sUkta describes the second avatAra

(incarnation) of vAyu:

"pRuShO vapuh pitumAnnitya AshayE dvitiyamA saptashivAsu mAtRuShu"

The second avatara (of vAyu) is (or will be) a destroyer of enemies, a partaker

of large quantities of food, eternal (or somebody whose death will happen only

at his desire) and totally immersed in the seven scriptures.

shrImadAchArya defines 'sEna' as 'inEna sahita' i.e., as somebody who is always

with his 'ina' (lord and master).

shrI vAdirAja tIrtha has described this very poetically as follows, "The

ferociousness shown by shrI hari while killing hiraNyakashipu is absent when he

is with lakshmi. Similarly the steel body shown by bhIma while killing

jarAsandha is absent when he is with droupadi. The same contrast in forms

can be seen between bhIma and nakula".

* The Balittha Sukta (Rg Veda I.141. 1-5), (dirghatama Rishi, mAtarishvo devata, jagati chandaH)

 is the shruti reference that is quoted by Shrimad Ananda Tirtha himself to show that he is the third

 avatara (incarnation) of Mukhya Prana, also known as Vayu. His first avatara is Hanuman, the

servant of Rama, and the second, Bhimasena, the destroyer of the Kaurava army. After the advent

of the Kali Yuga, when Lord Vishnu was obscured in the minds of man, and when men began to think

 that the world is false, has no ultimate basis in reality, and that there is no Ishvara (Supreme being),

but the jiva (soul) itself is Brahman, the Absolute Being -- then took place the third avatara of Vayu,

as Madhva, who came to Earth and established the absolute glory and greatness of Vishnu.

 

karadinda shishubhAvanAda bhImana biDalu

giriyoDedu shatashrungavendenesitu

harigaLa harigaLim karigaLa karigaLim

areda vIranige sura nararu sariye ll13ll

karadinda = from the hand

shishubhAvanAda = having the looks of an infant

bhImana = bhIma

biDalu = dropped

giriyoDedu = the mountain broke

shatashrungavendenesitu = shata + shrunga + vendu + enisitu

= became hundreds of pieces

harigaLa harigaLim = horses against horses

karigaLa karigaLim = elephants againts elephants

areda = grind

vIranige = warrior

sura = gods

nararu = humans

sariye = is there any equal

When the infant-like bhIma was dropped from his mother's lap, the mountain (on

which his mother was present) broke into a hundred pieces. He crushed horses

against horses and elephants against elephants, is there a human or god equal to

this great warrior?

shishubhAvanAda

The word "shishubhAvanAda" means having the look of an infant. This term, rather

than the more straightforward "shishu", has been used for a reason.

Even though vAyu was "born" to kunti, his birth was of a totally different

nature. Normally a child goes through tribulations in its mother's womb (the

shAstras compare this to stay in a dark prison). This was not the case with

bhIma. Nor was he conceived out of a sexual interaction. His physique had all

the 32 marks associated with a perfect physique. Also, a human body goes through

different states like childhood, adoloscence, manhood, old-age etc, where the

capabilities of the body in terms of strength, stamina etc. vary. This was not

the case with bhIma. Only the appearance changed with time, there was no increase or decrease

 of strength and capabilities.

Incidentally, all of the above holds true in the case of the Lord too. Even

though Lord appears to take birth, grow, sleep, bleed, die etc, none of this

actually happens since His body is not made up of any "prakritic" (natural or

material) elements; it consists of pure and unsullied bliss and knowledge.

Attributing such human-like characteristics to the Lord is one of the forms of

hatred towards him, and is a sure-fire way of landing in trouble (dark and eternal

hell, replete with unimaginable suffering).

"tajjanmamAtrENa dhAra vidAritA shArdUlabhItAjjananIkarAdyadA

papAta sanchUrNita Eva parvatastEnAkhilOasou shatashRunganAmA"

(M.B.T.N Canto 12 Verse 55)

Even at the time of his birth, the earth split. His mother dropped him out of

fear when she heard a tiger roar. Due to this, the structure of the mountain

named shatashRunga became very weak.

This clearly indicates that the name of the mountain was shatashRunga (hundred

peaks) and not that it broke into a hundred fragments after bhIma fell on it.

That is why srimadAchArya says that the mountain became fragile and shaky after

bhIma fell on it.

During the kurukshEtra war with kauravas, bhIma was the best example of

destruction. He single-handedely destroyed more than half the kaurava army. Such

was his strength that he could kill elephants with bare fists. Once he killed a

massive and ferocious elephant that was causing havoc, swung it around and threw

it on the enemy army killing thousands of soldiers, horses and elephants. A more

graphic and detailed description of his heroic deeds is given in the later

verses.

kurupa garaLavanikke nereyunDu tEgi

uragagaLa mElbiDalu adanorasida

aragina maneyalli uriyanikkalu dhIra

dharisi jAhnavIgoyda tannanujara ll14ll

kurupa = kuru+p= king of kurus (duryOdhana)

garaLavanikke = gave poisoned food

nereyunDu = completely ate

tEgi = burped (digested)

uragagaLa = snakes

mElbiDalu = set upon

adanorasida = killed them

aragina = wax

maneyalli = palace

uriyanikkalu = put fire

dhIra = brave warrior

dharisi = carried

jAhnavIgoyda = to ganga river

tannanujara = his brothers

When the King of Kurus (duryOdhana) administered poison to bhIma, he ate and

digested it heartily. When snakes were set upon him, he finished them off

easily. When the palace of wax (in which he, his mother and brothers were

sleeping) was set on fire, he easily carried his entire family on his

shoulders and brought them to the banks of the ganga.

After being cursed by a sage, King pAnDu handed over the reins of the kingdom to

his brother dhRutarAShTra and went to the forest with his wives kunti and mAdri.

Since dhRutarAShTra was blind, his eldest son duryOdhana was the king for all

practical purposes. That is why the term "kurup" has been used.

duryOdhana and his followers developed a hatred for bhIma even during their

childhood, mainly out of jealousy towards his owerpowering personality and

superior strength. bhIma played a lot of pranks on them to ensure that the

hatred blossomed. Some of his pranks were as follows:

When the children would climb a fruit-laden tree to pluck the fruits, bhIma

would shake the entire tree and make the fruit drop (along with the children).

He would grab a bunch of them and hold them under water, letting them go at the

last minute. He dominated every kind of sport - running, wrestling, pulling,

jumping etc. These acts brought about opposite results in his mates - children

who were essentially divine in nature developed love and respect towards him,

whereas all the asuras developed an overpowering hatred.

duryOdhana was determined to kill bhIma and arjuna and then grab the kingdom

from the helpess yudhiShTira. Since bhIma was too strong to be killed in a

straight-fight, duryOdhana decided to do so through dishonesty. To this end, he

tried his level best in every possible manner. However, as a loyal and

steadfast devotee of hari, subject to His full grace, bhIma had no difficulty in

emerging succesful every single time.

First, he was given poisoned food. This poison was a by-product of the churning

of the ocean and had been given to rudra by hari. ShukrAchArya had obtained it

from rudra through penance, and in turn, shakuni has obtained it from him. This

powerful poison was mixed with food and given to bhIma. He ate it, digested it

and shrugged it off. Next, they tied him in steel ropes and threw him in the

ganges. bhIma had no difficulty in breaking the ropes and rising to the surface.

Next, duryOdhana and his evil cohorts obtained 8 vicious and poisonous snakes

and handed them over to their charioteer, who released them on the sleeping

bhIma's chest. The snakes were so powerful that their mere sight or breath was

potent enough to burn down cities. However, when the snakes tried to bite

bhIma's hard body they broke their teeth! He then killed them and threw them

far, and killed their offspring, along with the evil charioteer. This caused a

lot of sadness to the asuras.

duryOdhana and his evil followers next arranged for a palace of wax to be built

and requested kunti and her sons to stay there for a while. vidura, who guessed

the reason for this wax palace, arranged for a builder to build a secret tunnel,

leading from the palace to a safe place.duryOdhana sent his minister purOchana

 with the  purpose of attending to the needs of kunti, but with the secret goal

of burning down the wax palace at a suitable time. bhIma, who knew the whole plan,

was biding his time. purOchana had an evil sister who had performed severe penance

 for one year with the objective of making her 5 sons gods. Rudra had granted her that boon

with the condition that this would happen if she was not killed along with her sons.

The sister visited purOchana along with her 5 sons. She cooked a meal for the

pAnDavAs but laced it with a deadly poison. BhIma ate all the food thus

preventing the others from eating it; he digested it without any side-effect. In

the night when everybody was sleeping, he woke up his mother and brothers, and

carried them away to safety, setting the palace on fire. purOchana, his sister

and her sons were all killed together, thus opposing the boon that she had

obtained. bhIma carried his entire family on his shoulders and reached the banks

of the ganga.

The Pandavas emerge out of the other end of the tunnel, while the house of lacquer goes up in flames.

allidda baka hiDimbakaremba rakkasara

nilladorisida lOkakanTakaranu

ballidasurara gelidu droupadi karaviDidu

yella sujanarige haruShava bIrida ll15ll

allidda = (those) who were there

baka = name of a demon

hiDimbakaremba = name of another demon

rakkasara = demons

nilladorisida = eradicated

lOkakanTakaranu = public enemies

ballidasurara = knowledgeable gods

gelidu = won

droupadi = droupadi

karaviDidu = (took her) hand in marraige

yella = all

sujanarige = good people

haruShava = happiness

bIrida = distributed

BhIma eradicated demons baka and hidimba who were there and disturbing everybody.

He defeated knowledgeable gods, took droupadi's hand in marraige and brought

forth a lot of happiness to good people.

bhIma reached the banks of ganga along with his mother and brothers. This place

was inhabited by a demon named hiDimba and his sister hiDimbi.hiDimba had performed

 penance of rudra and obtained a boon of strength.

hiDimbi was actually an apsara (heavenly maiden) named shRi who had been cursed

by indrA's wife to take the life of a demoness. shRi had prayed to bhArati dEvi

(vAyu's wife) for mitigation. Pleased with her penance, bhArati had granted her

a boon, that her curse would be lifted after she married bhIma. In order to make

this happen, an element of bhArati incarnated along with hiDimbi.

hiDimbi was sent by her brother to obtain some food. She saw the exceptionally

handsome bhIma and lost her heart to him. She took on the form of a beautiful

woman and asked him to marry her. He refused saying that his elder brother was

as yet unwed. hiDimbi then told him that vEdavyAsa himself would come there in

the immediate future and make him agree. Annoyed by his sister's absence,

hiDimba came there and saw her with bhIma. This angered him and he attacked

bhIma with huge boulders and trees. bhIma brushed aside all his missiles and

easily killed him with his bare hands, breaking the boon granted by rudra (this

is possible since vAyu is much higher than rudra in the hierarchy of gods).

hiDimbi requested kunti and yudhiShTira to intercede on her behalf, which they

did, but bhIma did not yield. Finally, vEdavyAsa himself came and asked bhIma to

marry hiDimbi. BhIma immediately agreed (this is a good example of the verse

that was stated earlier - 'hariyanallade bageyanannyaranu lOkadoLu' - he does

not yield to anybody other than hari). After a year or so, they had a son named

ghatOtkacha. bhIma then allowed hiDimbi to go back to her heavenly residence with

her son, after extracting a promise that they would both return whenever he

needed them.

Hidimba killed by Bhima

vEdavyAsa took kunti and her sons with Him to Ekachakra and introduced them as

His disciples. He arranged for them to stay in a brahmin's house as guests.

Ekachakra was tormented by a demon called baka, who had become invincible

because of a boon granted by rudra. Unable to tolerate his random killings, the

people of that city had arrived at an understanding with him that everyday he

would be fed enormous amounts of food along with one human being. When the turn

of the pAnDavas' host came, bhIma took his place and killed baka.

pArvati, yama's wife shyAmala, indra's wife shachi, and usha, the wife of

ashwini dEvatas were cursed by brahma to take human lives. Instead of taking 5

bodies, they approached bhArati dEvi and requested her to make it possible for

them to share her body when she incarnated in dvAparayuga. bhArati agreed and

that is how droupadi was born with one body and the spirit of 5 goddesses.

droupadi's father drupada organized her svayamvara and invited princes from

afar. The contestants had to lift shivA's bow (which was given to drupada as a

gift), and shoot at the eye of a wooden fish, only with the aid of its

reflection. All the major princes of the land came and failed. Even though

krishNa, balarAma and other yAdavas were there, they had been ordered by krishna

not to make an attempt. The panDavas came in the appeared as brahmins and after

obtaining krishNa's blessings, arjuna succeded in his attempt. When other

contestants objected the brahmins participating in the contest and tried to

prevent the marraige, bhIma held them at bay.

Arjuna went home with his bride and announced that he had won a prize. kunti,

who has inside the kitchen, ordered all of them to share it equally. This put

the panDavas in a dilemma since they did not want to disobey their mother, but

it was unheard of for 5 people to marry one person. Fortunately, krishNa arrived

there and set their minds at rest. Based on His advice they all decided to marry

her.

               Arjuna shooting arrows

 kunti,who has inside the kitchen, ordered all of them to share it equally

Next day, after returning to drupada's palace, they revealed their identity to

the delighted drupada. However, when he heard of their plan to marry droupadi he

objected. vEdavyAsa came there and advised drupada to agree, after explaining

her unique background. When drupada still continued in his objections, vEdavyAsa

gave him divine powers and showed him the presence of the gods and goddesses

present in the pAnDavas and droupadi. drupada realized his mistake and felt

sorry for questioning vEdavyAsa's direct order. However, vEdavyAsa forgave him

and the marraige of droupadi with each of the pAnDavas was performed with great

ceremony and glory.

rAjakula vajranenisida mAgadhana sILi

rAjasUyayAgavanu mADisidanu

AjiyoLu kouravara balava savaruvenendu

mUjagavariye kankaNakaTTida ll16ll

rAjakula = the clan of kings

vajranenisida = known as the vajrAyudha (indra's feared missile)

mAgadhana = king of magadha (jarAsandha)

sILi = split

rAjasUyayAgavanu = the rAjasUya yAga

mADisidanu = he got it performed

AjiyoLu = in the world

kouravara = kourava's

balava = strength

savaruvenendu = eradicate

mUjagavariye = in a manner that the three worlds could know

kankaNakaTTida = made an oath

jarAsandha, the king of magadha, was known as the thunderbolt of kings (i.e., he

was so strong that nobody could hope to fight against him and survive), but

bhIma tore his body into 2 halves. He took an oath, was heard in all the three worlds

that he would destroy the strength of the kauravAs.

King pAnDu had been cursed by indra to remain in yamalOka (kingdom of yama, the

God of death) after his death, until his sons performed rAjasUya yAga.

sage nArada informed yudhiShTira that his father pAnDu was still in yamalOka and

would remain there until his sons performed rAjasUya yAga. yudhiShTira felt

sorry for his father and immediately sent for krishNa, to seek His advice in

this matter.

jarAsandha had been brought up a demoness named jara. He had performed severe

penance regarding rudra and brahma, and obtained boons of strength from them.

 He was so powerful that even balarAma could not kill him. He had an

overpowering hatred towards krishNa, since he was an asura by nature. This

hatred had blossomed with the killing of kamsa, who was his son-in-law. He had

attacked mathura several times in vain. krishNa had shifted his capital to

dwAraka, a city hidden in the ocean, out of pity for his people who had

suffered a lot under jarAsandha's constant attacks.

jarAsandha had imprisoned the relatives of krishna's wives and intended to offer

them as human sacrifices for the shiva yagna that he was planning to perform.

Their friends and family sent a request to krishNa, pleading him to free them. This

arrived at the same time as yudhiShTira's messenger.

krishNa visited the pAndDavas and told them about indra's curse. He advised them

to perform the yAga, but cautioned them against jarAsandha. On hearing this,

yudhiShTira got scared and gave up the idea of the yAga, but bhIma stood up and

took an oath to kill jarAsandha with krishNa's blessings. krishNa had several

reasons why He wanted the yAga performed - getting a good status to pAnDu,

killing of jarAsandha, freeing of his relatives etc, but the most important was

to ensure that the fruits of the yAga went to bhIma. It was finally decided that

krishNa, bhIma and arjuna would visit magadha without arms, in the guise of

brahmins. krishNa promised yudhiShTira to protect bhIma and arjuna from all

harm.

The three of them arrived at magadha and immediately announced their arrival

through a series of attacks. They levelled a huge shivalinga-like hill that

jarAsandha worshipped every day, they destroyed 3 massive drums that decorated the

city and entered jarAsandha's palace the way a lion enters the jungle, fiercely

announcing its arrival. When questioned by jarAsandha they revealed their

identity and asked him to select one of them for individual combat. He declined

to fight with arjuna since he was no match physically, he declined krishNa since

he was a cowherd (but the actual reason was that jarAsandha was scared that

krishNa would easily kill him). He chose bhIma since he seemed to be the most

appropriate from all angles.

The fight started with verbal fighting. jarAsandha took the stand that shiva was

supreme and tried to prove his point. However, bhIma easily defeated him and

proved that hari was supreme. Next, they fought with maces and later with bare

hands. The fight was extemely gruesome and drew even the gods as spectators.

bhima played with jarAsandha for 15 days, out of respect for the boons granted

by brahma and rudra. Finally, when the time was ripe, he took the blessings of

krishNa, and killed jarAsandha by splitting his body into 2 halves. He treated

jarAsandha as a yagya-pashu (sacrifice) and submitted this to krishNa, who is

the acceptor of all yagyas. krishNa embraced bhIma and showed His happiness at

the amazing feat performed by his favorite devotee. Thus bhIma rid the world of

an evil dictator.

Bima slays Jarasandha

Later the three of them returned to hastinApura and were greeted by everybody.

In due course of time, under vEdavyAsa's directions, the rAjasUya yAga was

performed.

In the shrI harivAyu stuti, shri trivikrama panDitAchArya states very poetically

("nirmRudnannatyayatnam ....rAjasUyashvamEdhE") that bhIma's act of killing of

jarAsandha like a yagna-pashu and offering this to krishna (who was witnessing

this in person) gave krishna more pleasure than the rAjaSuya and ashvamEdha

yAgas performed by yudhiShTira.

Sure all of us know about the events of the gambling incident, droupadi-vastrApaharaNa, and

 the oaths that bhIma took. He swore that he would break

duryOdhana's thighs and kill him, kill dushyAsana, single-handedly kill all of

dhRutharAShTrA's 100 sons. droupadi swore that she would leave her hair untied

until bhIma drenched them with dushyAsana's blood. All of these oaths were made

true in the kurukshEtra war.

dAnavara savarabEkendu byAga

mAnanidhi droupadiya manadingitavanaritu

kAnanava pokku kimmIrAdigaLa muridu

mAninige sougandhikavane tanda ll17ll

dAnavara = demons

savarabEkendu = destroy

byAga = quickly

mAnanidi = esteemed

droupadiya = droupadi's

manadingitavanaritu = understanding (her) mind's desire

kAnanava = jungle

pokku = entered

kimmArAdigaLa = demon kimmAra and others

muridu = after breaking

mAninige = for his wife

sougandhikavane = the sougandhika flower

tanda = he brought

In order to to eradicate evil people quickly, and to satisfy droupadi's desire

(for the sougandhikA flower), he entered the forest, killed demons kimmara and

others, and brought back sougandhikA for his wife.

From dhRutharAShTra's place the pAnDavas went to the forest directly. Here they

were confronted by kirmmIra, another ferocious demon who was harassing people.

He was baka's brother and was waiting to avenge his brother's death at bhIma's

hands. A violent fight occured between him and bhIma, and he died a painful

death.

During their vanavAsa (stay in the forest), pAnDavas happened to visit badari.

Once, when bhIma and droupadi were alone near the mountain, a rare and beautiful

flower with a heavenly fragrance dropped in their midst. droupadi loved the

flower and asked bhIma to bring her a few more like them. She knew very well that

 this flower was the sougandhika, available on kubera's garden on the

gandhamAdana mountain, gaurded by evil, fierce and arrogant demons. Since

killing of such demons was one of the primary objectives of bhIma's incarnation,

she expressed this desire and sent him on this task.

Bhima meets Hanumanta

As bhIma was climbing the mountain several evil demons attacked him in the form

of lions and tigers. He killed all of them and proceeded further, meeting

hanumanta on the way. The interaction between bhIma and hanumanta was an

interesting one. Even though both were forms of vAyu, and equal in strength and

capabilities, bhIma acted as if hanumanta was a stranger. He pretended to be

unable to lift hanumanta's tail, and requested hanumanta to tell him about

rAma's bravery and greatness. All of this was pretense mainly for the charming of

asuras, and also in keeping with accepted norms of behavior. This is explained

very clearly in the harivAyu stuti too ("gachchan sougandhikArtham ......").

When bhIma reached the garden he was challenged by another set of demons.

Initially they fought with him verbally. They took the position that shiva is

supreme, the world is an illusion and that all the jIvas are essentially the

same as parabrahma. bhIma disproved all their arguments and defeated them in

debate. Enraged, they attacked him with weapons and missiles and met their end

at his hands.

bhIma went back to droupadi with the flowers. YudhiShTira was anxious about

bhIma's health; he was also worried about angering kubera, and in turn rudra.

However, kubera who knew the identity of bhIma was not angered by bhIma's

action.

Yet another time droupadi requested bhIma to bring some more sougandhikA

flowers. Again, her objective was eradication of evil forces and enhancement of

bhIma's name and fame.

A similar set of events happened this time too, except that the demons were lead

by a fierce leader called manimanta. He had performed severe penance and

obtained boons of invincibility from rudra. He could not defeat bhIma in debate

or battle and met his end at his hands. However, he swore undying enimity

towards bhIma and promised to come back in kaliyuga and cause him pain by

misinterpreting scriptures. [According to the sumdhva vijaya, he was reborn as

sankara and spread his own interpretation of the scriptures. He even came as a

snake and bit madhvAchArya when he was a boy, but could not do any harm]

This time, due to influence of evil spirits, kubera was angered by bhIma's

action and wanted to go to war against him. Fortunately for him, sensible counsels

succeeded, and he apologized to bhIma and invited the pAnDavas to stay with him.