My trials, tribulations, triumphs and more... - Arjuna.

Chapter 28: Moving to Ekachakra Nagari and heroic act of Bhim bhai

After bidding farewell to Hidimbaa bhabhi and Ghato baby, we proceeded to the beautiful town of Ekachakra Nagari, the town was a prosperous place due to large scale trade and economic activities and also acquired importance due to its close vicinity to the capital city of Kampilya. To avoid detection from the spies of Duryodhan, we brothers disguised ourselves as Brahmanas, and accompanied by our mother entered into this magnificent town. It was difficult to disguise as we were trained warriors and hiding various marks on the body as a result of the strenuous training was rather difficult. Soon after entering the town, we were offered shelter by a Brahmana's family and thus started our short but eventful stay at Ekachakra Nagari,

During the stay at Ekachara Nagari, our routine used to be to wake up early, take bath in the nearby river, perform the morning prayers and spend some time in meditation and performing yog asanas. I want to emphasise here, the wonderful role played by Yudhi bhai in ensuring we continue the practice of yoga and meditation which was first instructed by our father and gurus at the ashram. Yudhi bhai used to be very strict with us to continue those difficult but wonderful practices, which served us so well to cope up with pressure on both physical and emotional fronts and also later on in our lives when we had endure some dire circumstances.

After spending time in meditation and performing yog asanas, it was time to go for collecting alms and usually we used to return before noon, and we brothers used to go in different directions for collecting alms, while Kunti maa used to be at home waiting for us. Sometimes, we used to get more food than expected due to various festivals such as Dusshera, Diwali, etc., and at other times we barely used to get any food. And, these events taught us a profound reality of life that life was never going to be smooth and rosy but is a difficult path to tread, where one should show great resolve and equanimity and swim through various difficulties and obstacles and try one's best to come out of it successfully.

Whatever we had collected through alms was handed over to Kunti maa who used to make two equal portions of that food, and offer one such portion to Bhim bhai wholly for himself and the other portion was for us remaining brothers and Kunti maa. At times, in jest, Nakul used to taunt Bhim bhai's appetite and earn a deadly glare from him, but it was all done for fun and not intended with any malice. Apart from Bhim bhai, none of us were that keen on food and were very capable of living without food for several days and at various times in our lives we did survive for several days on by consuming only water.

We brothers right from our childhood always had great love and concern for one another and used to feel immensely proud of the achievements and feats accomplished by one another. We all brothers must be thankful for our loving parents for bringing up in an environment filled with such genuine affection and care which helped us brothers to inculcate such great qualities of care and concern. And, our brotherly bond stood the test of time and it never broke even when we had to face some very painful incidents in our lives.

One day Kunti maa was not feeling well, so we asked Bhim bhai to be at home to take care of mother's health, while we all went out for collecting alms. And, when we arrived back at lunch time, Kunti maa narrated the whole sequence of events that happened during our absence. Kunti maa said when we were away for alms, she heard a great uproar coming in the Brahmana's house, the one who gave us the shelter. Kunti maa whose natural disposition was of compassion was not able to control her feelings of empathy and told Bhim bhai that we all are indebted to that noble Brahmana who had given us shelter and we should by all means in whatever capacity possible try to remove the reason for his sorrow. Thus along with Bhim bhai they rushed to the Brahmana's house to find out the reason for their distress. There they saw the Brahmana sitting along with his wife, daughter and son. All of them were weeping continuously and at the same time trying to console one another.

Brahmana was saying to his family members, that he would be the one who will go but his wife quickly dismissed that idea and said the children need their father hence she will be the one who will go, but listening to the words of her mother the daughter wept bitterly and said mother should not go as her little brother and father needs her, so she will be the one who will go, and hearing his eldest sister's words the little son of the Brahmana said he with a blade of grass inspired with divine mantras would be able to defeat the rakshasa and no one in their family would need to sacrifice themselves. Hearing those words from that little child brought tears of pride for the entire family. Those scenes brought tears to Kunti maa and made her very emotional and those scenes even made our gentle giant brother Bhim bhai too to shed tears.

Kunti maa and Bhim bhai were overwhelmed by the situation and with compassion in their hearts approached the Brahmana and his family and asked them to reveal the whole situation in full and Kunti maa told the Brahmana that she will do whatever is in her capacity to relieve them of any problem. She told the Brahmana he should not feel stressed out and instead share with her what was causing them such grief. Initially, the Brahmana refused to take the help saying they are his guests and he should not make his guests uncomfortable by asking for anything in return for his favour. But, after persistent efforts from Kunti maa and Bhim bhai, he proceeded to reveal the reason for their grief. 

Brahmana said in that town lived a ferocious rakshasa named Baka who was an immensely strong rakshasa capable of defeating large battalions of soldiers all by himself and he was the chief rakshasa ruling that town and he agreed to a pact with the residents of the town that after a stipulated period of every six months, they should bring him huge supply of food comprising of cartload of rice, curd, butter, various sweet dishes, deers, buffaloes and a human. As it was now the turn of his family, hence the reason for his grief. After listening to it, Kunti maa consoled the family of Brahmana and said they should not be grieving anymore as her son Bhimsen would go with the offerings to the evil rakshasa in place of the Brahmana's family. The Brahmana's family objected to this offer and said they would not like to take any undue advantage of their guests but Kunti maa asked them not to worry about the safety of her son as she knows her son's valour, energy and ability in defeating mighty rakshasas.

Bhim bhai proceeded with the cart full of food items such as flavoured rice, dal, sabzi, huge bowls of curd, butter, various sweet dishes, namkeen etc., and needless to say he started to gorge them from the start itself and when he finally reached the place where Baka was residing the cart was almost empty and Bhim bhai was continuing the feast. Hearing the sounds made by the cart, the smell of human and the aroma coming out of the delicious food items, rakshasa Baka came out from his cave and uttered a loud roar and he was enraged to see Bhim bhai feasting on the food. Baka rushed to the food cart and roared loudly and uttered that he was going to kill Bhim bhai who was feasting on the food that was supposed to be offered to him, Bhim bhai was not interested to listen to any of those roars and continued having the food. 

Baka became incensed at this act of Bhim bhai and rushed in and landed a solid blow on the back but it failed to evoke any response from Bhim bhai, who was calmly finishing off the food. Baka was taken aback by this, as his blows usually killed any person on the spot but his blow was not having any affect on Bhim bhai, so he uprooted the tress and showered down on Bhim bhai. And, by that time Bhim bhai finished the food off and with his usual awesome reflexes escaped the incoming projectiles in the form of trees and now was in a ferocious mood to take on the dreaded rakshasa. Soon, Bhim bhai grabbed the body of rakshasa and started to pound him powerfully and threw him down on the ground, Baka was trying hard to save his life but Bhim bhai was now in no mood to show any mercy on that evil rakshasa and finished him off quickly with a thunderous blow to his head. Thus Bhim bhai was instrumental in not only relieving the grief of the Brahman's family but also for permanently removing the fear of the rakshasa for the whole town. This incident showcases another mighty act of our mighty yet gentle brother Bhim bhai. We always had great confidence and pride on each other's skills and abilities and all our lives we always encouraged and reminded one another of the valour and prowess and backed each other. I always felt proud of Bhim bhai's valour, selflessness and commitment to his family and loved ones. When he returned back, Brahmana's family welcomed him heartily and thanked him profusely, they also thanked Kunti maa for helping them out in such dire situation. Thus ends another interesting chapter of our journey in disguise.