“Vaishampaayana said, ‘Then Bhishma and Kunti with
their friends celebrated the Sraddha of the deceased monarch (Pandu), and offered the
Pinda. They feasted the Kauravas and thousands of Brahmanas to whom they also
gave gems and lands. Then the citizens returned to Hastinapura with the Pandavas,
now that they had been cleansed from the impurity incident to the demise of
their father. All then fell to weeping for the departed king. It seemed as if
they had lost one of their own relative.
“When the Sraddha had been celebrated in the manner
mentioned above, the worthy of worship – Vyasa, seeing all the subjects sunk in
grief, said one day to his mother Satyavati, ‘Mother, our days of happiness
have gone by and days of calamity have succeeded. Sin begins to increase day by
day. The world has got old. The empire of the Kauravas will no longer live
because of wrong and oppression. You go then into the forest, and devote yourself
to meditation through Yoga. From now on, society will be filled with trickery
and wrong. Good work will stop. Do not witness the destruction of your race, in
your old age.’
“Reluctantly accepting in the words of Vyasa,
Satyavati entered the inner apartments and addressed her daughter-in-law,
saying, ‘O Ambika, I hear that in consequence of the actions of your grandsons,
this Bharata dynasty and its subjects will perish. If you permit, I would go to
the forest with Kausalya (Ambalika – the mother of
Pandu), so grieved at the loss of her
son.’
“O king (Janamejaya), saying this the queen (Satyavati), taking the permission of Bhishma also,
went to the forest. Arriving there with her two daughters-in-law (Ambika
and Ambalika), she became engaged in
profound meditation, and in good time leaving her body ascended to heaven.’
“Vaishampaayana continued, ‘Then the sons of king
Pandu, having gone through all the purifying rites prescribed in the Vedas,
began to grow up in princely style in the home of their father. Whenever they
were engaged in play with the sons of Dhritarashtra, their superiority of
strength became marked. In speed, in striking the objects aimed at, in
consuming articles of food, and scattering dust, Bhimasena beat all the sons of
Dhritarashtra. The son of Vaayu pulled them (sons
of Dhritarashtra) by the hair and made
them fight with one another, laughing all the while. Vrikodara (Bhimasena) easily defeated those hundred and one
children of great energy as if they were one instead of being a hundred and
one. The second Pandava (Bhimasena)
used to seize them by the hair, and throwing them down, to drag them along the
earth. By this, some had their knees broken, some their heads, and some their
shoulders. That youth (Bhimasena),
sometimes holding ten of them, drowned them in water, till they were nearly
dead. When the sons of Dhritarashtra got up to the branches of a tree for
plucking fruits, Bhima used to shake that tree, by striking it with his foot,
so that down came the fruits and the fruitpluckers (sons of Dhritarashtra) at the same time. In fact, those princes
were no match for Bhima in boxing encounters, in speed, or in skill. Bhima used
to make a display of his strength by thus tormenting them in childishness but
not from hatred.
“Seeing these wonderful exhibitions of the might of
Bhima, the powerful Duryodhana, the eldest son of Dhritarashtra, began to develop
hostility towards him. The wicked and Adharmic Duryodhana, through ignorance
and ambition, prepared himself for an act of sin. He thought, ‘There is no
other individual who can compare with Bhima, the second son of Pandu, in point
of skills. I shall have to destroy him by trickery. Singly, Bhima dares a
century of us to the combat. Therefore, when he shall sleep in the garden, I
shall throw him into the (river) current of the Ganga. Afterwards, imprisoning
his eldest brother Yudhishthira and his younger brother Arjuna, I shall reign
sole king without harassment.’
“Determined thus, the wicked Duryodhana was ever on
the watch to find out an opportunity for injuring Bhima. O Bharata (Janamejaya), at length at a
beautiful place called Pramaanakoti on the banks of Ganga, he built a palace
decorated with hangings of broad-cloth and other rich stuffs. He built this
palace for sporting in the water there, and filled it with all kinds of
entertaining things and choice food items. Cheerful flags waved on the top of
this mansion. The name of the house was ‘the water-sport house.’ Skillful cooks
prepared various kinds of foods. When all was ready, the officers gave
intimation to Duryodhana. Then the evil-minded prince said to the Pandavas, ‘Let
us all go to the banks of Ganga graced with trees and crowned with flowers and
sport there in the water.’ Upon Yudhishthira agreeing to this, the sons of
Dhritarashtra, taking the Pandavas with them, mounted country-born elephants of
great size and chariots resembling towns, and left the city.
“On arriving at the place, the princes dismissed their
attendants, and surveying the beauty of the gardens and the groves, entered the
palace, like lions entering their mountain caves. On entering they saw that the
architects had handsomely covered the walls and the ceilings and that painters
had painted them beautifully. The windows looked very graceful, and the
artificial fountains were splendid. Here and there were tanks of clear water in
which bloomed forests of lotuses. The banks were decked with various flowers whose
fragrance filled the atmosphere. The Kauravas and the Pandavas sat down and
began to enjoy the things provided for them. They became engaged in play and
began to exchange mouthful of food with one another.
“Meanwhile the wicked Duryodhana had mixed a powerful
poison with a quantity of food, with the object of making away with Bhima. That
wicked youth who had nectar in his tongue and a razor in his heart, rose at
length, and in a friendly way fed Bhima largely with that poisoned food, and
thinking himself lucky in having accomplished his end, was exceedingly glad at
heart. Then the sons of Dhritarashtra and Pandu together became cheerfully
engaged in sporting in the water. Their sport having been finished, they
dressed themselves in white clothing, and decked themselves with various
ornaments. Tired with play, they felt inclined in the evening to rest in the
pleasure house belonging to the garden. Having made the other youths take
exercise in the waters, the powerful second Pandava (Bhimasena) was excessively tired.
So that on rising from the water, he lay down on the ground. He was tired and
under the influence of the poison. The cool air served to spread the poison
over all his frame, so that he lost his senses at once. Seeing this Duryodhana bound
him with chords of shrubs, and threw him into the water. The insensible son of
Pandu (Bhimasena) sank down till he
reached the Naga kingdom. Nagas, furnished with fangs containing deadly poison,
bit him by thousands. The poison mingled in the blood of the son of Vaayudeva,
was neutralised by the snake-poison. The snakes had bitten all over his (body)frame, except his chest, the skin of which
was so tough that their fangs could not penetrate it.
“On regaining consciousness, the son of Kunti (Bhimasena) burst his bands
and began to press the snakes down under the ground. A remaining fled for life,
and going to their king Vaasuki told, ‘O king of snakes, a man drowned under
the water, bound in chords of shrubs; probably he had drunk poison. For when he
fell amongst us, he was insensible. But when we began to bite him, he regained
his senses, and bursting his shackles, commenced laying at us. May it please Your
Majesty to enquire who is.’
“Then Vaasuki, in accordance with the prayer of
the inferior Naagas, went to the place and saw Bhimasena. Of the snakes, there
was one, named Aaryaka. He was the grandfather of the father of Kunti. The lord
of snakes saw his relative (Bhimasena) and embraced him. Then, Vaasuki, learning
all, was pleased with Bhima, and said to Aaryaka with satisfaction, ‘How are we
to please him? Let him have money and gems in abudance.’
“On hearing the words of Vaasuki, Aaryaka said, ‘O
king of Naagas, when Your Majesty is pleased with him, no need of wealth for
him! Permit him to drink of rasakunda (nectar-vessels) and thus acquire immeasurable strength.
There is the strength of a thousand elephants in each one of those vessels. Let
this prince drink as much as he can.’
“The
king of snakes gave his acceptance. The snakes thereupon began auspicious
rites. Then purifying himself carefully, Bhimasena facing the east began to
drink nectar. At one breath, he drank off the contents of a whole vessel, and
in this manner drained off eight successive jars, till he was full. At length,
the snakes prepared an excellent bed for him, on which he lay down at ease.’”
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