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Mahābhārata The History of the Great India
<< 49 Bhima's Celestial Travels >>
 |  | Bhima's powerful new wife shows him the wonders of higher realms. The sage Vaisampayana is telling the history of the Pandavas to their great-grandson, King Janamejaya. As the Mahabharata continues, Bhima, having killed the man-eater Hidimba, tries to rid himself of the man-eater's sister, who has begun to travel with them.
| | | Bhimasena said, "Raksasas remember their grudges, and they resort to bewildering magic to avenge themselves. Your are one of them, Hidimba! Go now the way of your brother!"
| | | Yudhisthira said, "Bhima, O tiger of men, even if you are angry you must never kill a woman. Protect the sacred law, Pandava, and don't worry about protecting your body. The mighty demon came to kill us, but you cut him down. So what can his sister do to us, even if she is secretly angry?"
| | | Folding her hands in a prayerful sign, Hidimba turned to Kunti (and to Yudhisthira and Arjuna) and pleaded for help.
| | | "O noble woman, you know how much women suffer when struck by the arrows of Cupid. Now, good woman, that pain has reached my heart because of Bhimasena. I tolerated the greatest sorrow, waiting for the right time, but now my time has come to be truly happy. Giving up my best friends, my duties, and my people, O good lady, I chose this tiger of a man, your son, as my husband. Most honored woman, does this chosen man, and do you also, reject my proposal for a wedding because I speak as I do? Whether you consider me a fool or a devoted servant, O fortunate woman, please unite me with your son in sacred marriage! Taking your son, as handsome as a god, I would go with him wherever we wish. And when my desire has been fulfilled, we shall return. Please have faith in me, fair lady.
| | | "If all of you just think of me, then I shall always come to you in times of trouble, and I shall take you, best of men, across impassable roads. When you desire to travel with great speed, I shall carry all of you on my back. But now, please, give me your mercy so that Bhimasena will accept me.
| | | "It is said, 'To escape disaster a man should save his life by whatever means is practical, and one who follows this rule must honor every practical means as his duty. This does not mean, however, that one should resort to evil acts, for even in distress one should maintain one's higher principles. One who knows this is the greatest student of virtue, for calamity often spells the ruin of religious principles and of those who practice them. But virtue preserves one's life, and virtue is the giver of life, so whatever means one adopts to preserve one's virtue cannot be condemned.' "
| | | Yudhisthira said, "It is exactly as you have said, Hidimba; there is no doubt about it. Religion must be practiced as you have described it, slender lady. Bhimasena shall now take his bath and perform his daily rites. Let him take the sacred marriage thread, and you may receive him as your husband before the sun has set. You may travel with him during the days as much as you desire, and at the speed of the mind, but you must always bring Bhimasena back to us at night."
| | | Hidimba the Raksasi then promised, saying, "It shall be so."
| | | Taking Bhimasena, her husband, Hidimba traveled up into the sky and went with him to visit beautiful mountain peaks and sanctuaries of the gods, enchanting abodes always busy with the sounds of deer and birds. Assuming the most beautiful feminine form, adorning herself with all manner of exquisite jewelry, and conversing very sweetly, she gave pleasure in all these places to the son of Pandu.
| | | Similarly, Hidimba delighted him in inaccessible forests and on hilltops filled with flowering trees; in charming lakes bedecked with blossoming lotus flowers; on river islands and beaches where the sand was made of gems; in the waters of the holiest forests; in the mountain rivers; in the lands of the ocean, filled with jewels and gold; in charming villages; in forests of giant Sala trees; in the sacred groves of the gods; on the mountain cliffs; in the abodes of the mystic Guhyakas; in the shrines of the ascetics; and on the banks of the celestial Manasa Lake, which abounds in the fruits and flowers of all seasons.
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