Picture of Bhima. Source: Wikimedia
Mahabharata The Greatest Spiritual Epic of All Time, by Krishna Dharma
After Bhima married Hidimbi he went with her and stayed in the mountains to give her a son. After seven months Hidimbi had a son who was a virtuous Raksasa. He grew up unnaturally fast and soon requested that he should leave home to go explore the world. Bhima granted him this wish and soon he would leave with the rest of the Pandavas to continue their quest to combat Duryodhana. After they had left Hidimbi for some time they were approached by a stranger who said he would lead them to a safe place to stay. He led them to the house of a local Brahmin where they were safe from harm and they could care for their mother Kunti. One day Kunti overheard the Brahmin talking with much distress to his family members. The town had apparently made a deal with a Raksasa named Baka that if once a week they would deliver food and a human offering to the Raksasa he wouldn't attack them and would protect them. It was the Brahmin's turn to be an offering next and the family was grieving with their father. Kunti overheard all of this and is swept with emotion. She decides that the Pandavas will do anything to help the Brahmin and his family. She offers an alternative to them that Bhima should go to Baka and take him out for them instead. They are very grateful for the offer and Kunti tell Bhima so he can prepare. The next day Bhima goes to the Raksasa and confronts him. Baka attacks him immediately and Bhima counters every blow. Eventually Bhima grows tired of the fight and kills Baka with one blow. He warns all other Raksasas in the vicinity that they should leave and never devour humans again unless they want to end up like Baka. The Raksasas all flee and the towns people cheer for Bhima. After a little more time had passed and the town had not been attacked again Bhima decided he wanted to go back to Hidimbi. The fight made him realize what was important to him. He told his brothers to just call him whenever he was needed so they could win back their throne. His brothers agreed to Bhima's request and he left them to return to Hidimbi.
Author's Note: I wrote this story based on chapter 1.8 of the Dharma Mahabharata book. I changed the end of the story so that Bhima returned to his wife, which I like better because he just leaves her there in the original story. I also left it open to him helping his brothers when the time comes so he doesn't betray his family with the choice.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHey David!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your story “Bhima vs Baka.” Further, I thought your story flowed very well, however if you added some dialogue between your characters I think it would make your story just that much better. Also, the image you used complemented your story really well! Overall, I think you did a great job on your story and I can’t wait to see what you come up with next!
Hey David,
ReplyDeleteThat was a good retelling of that story! I like how we are able to change details of the stories we read when we go to write ours. It makes everything much more interesting. There is one critique that I have for the story though. Content-wise, it was great, but I think breaking the block into distinct paragraphs could make it easier for readers to read.
Hi, David! I love the way you chose to tell this story! I love it when people change sad endings happy ones. Happy is always better. I think you could separate your story up a little bit just for the sake of it not being one big paragraph. Thank you so much for sharing this story. Best of luck on the rest of the semester.
ReplyDeleteHi David! I like how you took creative freedom and changed this story a bit to have Bhima return to his wife, it's a bit better than the original ending of him just leaving her. Also I liked the choice to have him open to help his brothers, it made the ending happy and hopeful!
ReplyDeleteHello again, David!
ReplyDeleteGreat story! Your creativity is incredible. I think it may be beneficial to proofread because I noticed some instances where commas were necessary. Also, instead of having one huge blob of words, perhaps you can break the paragraph into two so that there is a moment for the audience to pause and take a moment to collect thoughts or emotions from reading your story. Overall though, your writing style is fantastic. I look forward to reading more of your stories.