As the unconscious Bheem drifted deeper into the water, numberless poisonous serpents of
the lake dug their fangs into him. To any mere mortal those snakebites would have proved fatal.
But the son of Vayu woke up instead.
He broke the ropes that bound him and grabbed at the attacking snakes to fight them off.
The snakes had not anticipated such strength and speed from a mortal.
When they persisted, Bheem started killing them off.
The situation had reversed now.
Instead of attacking the drowning prince, the snakes were now looking to escape him.
By the time he was rid of all the snakes, Bheem found himself at a great depth.
Though he was in a palace compound, it seemed to him that he was in another world.
This world was Naag Lok – home of the most powerful serpents.
Bheem was greeted by Vasuki himself, who was the ruler of this realm
He discovered that Vasuki was related to him through the Naag Chief Aaryak
Calling him a grandson, Vasuki showered Bheem with love and affection.
After letting Bheem feast on the choicest of Naag Lok delicacies, Vasuki gifted him a magic drink.
He promised him that the gifts that this drink bestows upon him will enable him to face and defeat many threats to his
and his brothers’ lives. Vasuki’s magic potion gave Bheem the strength
of a thousand elephants and transformed him into a hero whose fame will echo down the
corridors of history.
But strength was not all Naag Lok had given to Bheem.
As he swam away from the realm of Vasuki, Bheem was going home with the realization
that the time for him to be an innocent little boy was over
For the sake of those he loved,
it was time for him to grow up and face the dangers that lurked all around the Pandavas.
As the Pandavas walked through the thick forest, Bhim saw that the constant night vigils and
fear of an attack by assassins was taking its toll on his mother Kunti and his brothers.
They knew that danger could be lurking around them and that they would have to find a safe
place to stay before long. After walking a long distance, Kunti and the Pandavas could
hardly walk any more as they were extremely thirsty and hungry.
Seeing their plight, Bhim carried Kunti on his shoulder, took Nakul and Sahadev on his
hips and supported Yudhishthir and Arjun with his two hands.
Under the dark night sky, Bhim strode effortlessly like an elephant through the thickness of the forest.
When the Pandavas reached the river, a boatman, who knew their plan, received them and helped
them cross the river to the other side of the land.
On reaching the other side, the Pandavas decided to halt till morning. Of all the Pandavas,
Bhim was the one who set out to fetch water for his thirsty mother and brothers.
Bhim walked for miles through the dense forest in search of water.
When he found a pool, he made bowls with lotus leaves and brought water to his mother and brothers.
When all were fast asleep, Bhim stayed awake to guard them.
The next morning, the Pandavas began their journey again. Although they suffered much hardship, they did stop.
They knew that they would soon avenge the sinister attempts to kill them and make Duryodhan pay for his misdeeds.
In the city of Ekachakra, the Pandavas and Kunti disguised themselves as Brahmans so
that the Kauravas would not be able to find them. In order to sustain themselves, the
Pandavas begged for food in the streets and found themselves shelter in the house of a scholar.
One day, when the Pandavas were out begging for food,
Kunti heard a loud cry from the scholar's room. When Kunti inquired what the
matter was, the scholar informed her about his misfortune.
He told her about Bakaasur. Many years ago, Bakaasur the cruel Asura had begun his reign
of terror in Ekachakra. He would often come out of his cave and out of hunger, he would
indiscriminately kill and eat the dwellers of the city.
The dwellers tried reaching a settlement with the Asura by saying that once a week, one
person from each house would deliver him large amounts of food in a bullock cart.
Bakasur agreed to the proposal and from that day, he had been eating the food, the bullocks
and even the person who delivered the food.
The scholar told Kunti that this week, it was his turn to deliver food.
Since his death would leave his family unprotected, he had decided that all of them would go and lay down their lives together
The scholar also told the Pandavas that no man, however brave, had ever been successful in attempts to
killing the asura.
Upon hearing this, Kunti at once proposed that her son Bhim would go and deliver food to the Asura this time.
Bhim, who had been itching for a fight for quite some time, was only too happy to obey his mother.
Bhim went to the hilltop with a cart full of food
Bakasur smelled him from afar and awoke for his meal.
But when Bakaasur emerged from his cave, he found that Bhim had already
eaten everything the cart contained.
Bakasur was enraged.
It was not long before a fight to the death broke out between Bakasur and Bhim.
Bakaasur was large and strong. But Bhim was no less.
The son of Vayu broke every single bone in Bakaasur's body, thus ending his life..
That evening, Ekachakra rejoiced and celebrated.
They thanked Bhim for delivering them from the fear of Bakasur. Bhim accepted the gratitude
and went to sleep -- well-fed and content after a long time.
When Narad had visited the Pandavas, he had made two important points for them to follow.
The first was to have Draupadi as the wife of one brother at a time and the second was
for Yudhishthir to perform a Rajasuya Yagya so
as to confer upon the deceased Pandu an honourable status in Indra’s court. While
the Pandavas had already put to practice the first,
they were yet to perform the Rajasuya Yagya.
Yudhishthir was apprehensive of performing the yagya.
What constantly worried him was that the yagya might not be easy to accomplish as it might lead to some form or the other
of destruction and suffering. While he wanted
to perform the yagya, he also did not want his
people to suffer the consequences of any unexpected revolt.
Unable to make a decision, he invited Krishna from Dwarka to seek his advice.
Krishna told Yudhishthir that he possessed all the qualities to become the emperor and that he would have
to secure the acceptance of being the emperor from all the other rulers. While listing down
all the allies of the Pandavas, Krishna reminded
Yudhsihthir about Jarasandha, the emperor of Magadh
He told him that the kingdom of Magadh was very powerful and that Jarasandh
would never agree to Yudhishthir’s supremacy.
Hence, he should be slain for the Yagya to be successful.
Jarasandha had held captive a number of rulers.
Krishna recalled the incident when he had to move the city of Mathura to Dwarka in order
to protect it from falling into the hands of Jarasandh
Upon hearing this, Yudhishthir expressed his concern.
If Krishna himself feared the power of Jarasandh, the Pandavas certainly
would not be competent enough to defeat him.
It was during this discussion that Bhim stepped in.
He told Yudhsithir that the combined powers of Krishna, Arjun and his own strength can bring Jarasandh down
Arjun and Krishna agreed as they felt that it was their duty to defeat Jarasandh and save all the kings
who were held captive
Yudhidhthir was convinced.
Having sought Yudhishthir’s consent, Krishna, Arjun and Bhim set forth towards the
kingdom of Magadh disguised as brahmans.
Although suspicious of their appearance, Jarasandh welcomed the brahmans to his palace and asked them the purpose of their visit
Krishna then revealed their identities and challenged Jarasandh to fight.
Jarasandh challenged Bhima and both of them entered the arena for combat.
They fought each other brutally with their bare arms. The fight that had started on the first day
of Karthik lasted till the thirteenth day when Bhim delivered
one final blow to Jarasandh tore him into two pieces.
Before anyone could know, the two pieces magically joined together again and Jarasandh
came back to life. Bhim was shocked and confused.
Sensing his confusion, Krishna tore a
blade of grass into two parts and threw them in opposite directions.
Bhim took the hint
and once again slashed through Jarasandh and threw
the body parts in opposite directions.
This time, the two pieces could not come together again.
The slaying Jarasandh freed Magadh and Krishna released all the captive rulers who promised him their support and alliance.
With this, Krishna, Arjun and Bhim returned victorious to Indraprasth
They were welcomed with great festivity.
The Yagya was performed and Yudhishtir was made the emperor.
After spending a few days in Indraprasth, Krishna took leave of the Pandavas and left for Dwarka.