Wednesday, June 26, 2013

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.

File:Bhima.jpg 


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 Hanuman
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.

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