Why Bhima is the real hero of the Mahabharata - part 2

"Chhota Bheem"
Image courtesy: birthdaybless.com

Recently, I heard more than one kid that I ran into singing the "chhota bheem.. chhota bheem" title song from a cartoon of the same name on the Pogo channel in India. The show is not related to this post, but it was amusing to see its popularity with the kids of this generation.

I read an interesting article here about Bhima and wanted to paraphrase some of it here.

Verse 1-10 of the Bhagavad Gita describes Bhima as the strongest of all warriors on either side of the Mahabharata war. Mind you, this is the Lord's own words.

"aparyaaptam tadasmaakam balam bhiishmaabhirakshitam;
paryaaptam tvidam eteshhaam balam bhiimaabhirakshitam"

Here's a list of his accomplishments which completes shadows everybody else's:

1. Bhima kills each and every one of the 100 kauravas, none excluded. 
• In fact, before killing Dusshashasana on the battlefield, Bhima calls out to the rest of the Kaurava army to see if anybody wanted to stop him from proceeding. Warriors including Karna stay silent, perhaps due to fear of Bhima in general, and awareness of Bhima's pledge during Draupadi's humiliation of personally killing and drinking Dusshashana's blood.  
• When Bhima indeed rips Dusshashana open and drinks his blood Karna is described in the Mahabharata as swooning at the sight, and the rest of the Kaurava army scattering in fright.
2. When discussing whether to fight a war or not (after Duryodhana refuses even 5 villages to the Pandavas), Krishna tells the Pandavas and Bhima that Bhima was the one on whom most of the burden of the war would fall to. Arjuna and the rest were only nice-to-have warriors in the war. 
3. Bhima kills every other major villain in the course of events leading up to the Mahabharata, being used as Krishna's hero of choice - to rid the world of Jarasandha, for example. Jarasandha, in fact, mocks Arjuna (the other available fighter) as being an insult if he were chosen to fight him. He declares Bhima as the only warrior fit to fight him. Not muchkingd credence should be given to Jarasandha's words, of course. For, he also declares Krishna a coward. (Krishna moves his entire kingdom from Mathura to Dwaraka to avoid unnecessary bloodshed with the frequent battles with Jarasandha.) 
4. During Draupadi's humiliation in the Kaurava court, Bhima's patience is not to be mistaken for being merely obedience to his elder brother, Yudhishtira. His confidence in Krishna saving her from complete humiliation is all that we can infer. Bhima is also the only one that vows to rout the entire Kaurava clan, including his pledge for Dusshasana in particular.
5. On Arjuna being the person who strung the bow and won the Draupadi swayamvara, this article describes the story of the events leading up to the swayamvara. Veda Vyasa visits the Pandavas prior to the swayamvara and tells them that they were all going to marry Draupadi. So, Arjuna is chosen consciously to be the one that contests on their behalf. The article goes into why Bhima was not chosen to be the suitor at the swayamvara, with an interesting connection to Shikhandi and a curse on the garland that Draupadi was going to use for the winner of the swayamvara. In short, the wearer of the "Amba-Shikhandi-Draupadi" garland was destined to kill Bhishma, which Bhima was not going to do, as Bhishma was a Vishnu bhakta. 
• I'm not entirely sure I agree with the article's argument. Krishna advises Arjuna to kill everyone on the enemy side since they represented evil. If that applied to Arjuna, it must apply to Bhima as well, Vishnu bhakta or not. There were several not-fully-evil players on the Kaurava side, including Drona, for example. Still, an interesting thought, and perhaps there's more to the reasoning due to Bhima 's (Vayu's) standing in the Dwaita school of thought.

When looking at the events in the Mahabharata in greater detail, every key accomplishment of the Pandavas comes down to Bhima, no doubt the real hero of the Mahabharata.

The "Good or Bad" series: Ashwatthama

Image: netra-creative-vision.blogspot.com

Ashwatthama should be an easy call. The son of Dronacharya, Ashwatthama develops enmity towards the Pandavas and loyalty to Duryodhana (not unlike Karna) and commits several wrongs that seem to me to be unparalleled in the Mahabharata.

Ashwatthama is considered a partial avatara (amsha) of Shiva..

When Ashwatthama is still a child, Dronacharya is insulted by King Drupada (father of Draupadi) when he goes to ask for a cow to feed milk to his son. It is only after this incident that Kripacharya offers him a position as a teacher to the Pandavas and Kauravas. There perhaps was some anger in Ashwatthama towards Drupada (and hence Draupadi) due to this slight.

Ashwatthama's real enmity towards the Pandavas starts when they kill Dronacharya on the battlefield due to a 'lie' by Yudhishtira. When Drona is told by many that Ashwatthama is dead (not entirely untrue, because an elephant by the same name had died), he refuses to believe anybody but Yudhishtira. Yudhishtira confirms the death of the elephant, but Krishna blows his conch to blot out Yudhisthira's reference to the elephant. Drona, on hearing this, drops his weapons, and sits down in meditation on the battlefield. Seizing the opportunity, the Pandavas (Arjuna?) finish him off. Surely this must have angered Ashwatthama enough to commit all the atrocities he eventually does at the end of the war.

As a side note, it is interesting that there are several warriors in the Mahabharata that are considered unbeatable at one point or another. Bhishma is the first, whom even Parashurama is unable to beat (the Amba story), and he is only taken out when Shikhandhi is used to make him drop his weapons. The second is Arjuna, although his case is slightly weak, given that he is protected against Karna once or twice. Drona is deemed unbeatable in the Mahabharata war (although he is beaten by Arjuna in the Virata parva battle), and hence the Pandavas resort to trickery to take him out. Bhimasena is of course invincible and he routs most of the key bad characters in the entire Mahabharata.

Towards the end of the war, Ashwatthama resorts to killing several warriors in the Pandava camp including the sons of the Draupadi/Pandavas (mistakenly assuming that they were the Pandavas themselves) in stealth at night, not becoming of even a lowly soldier let alone a top warrior in an army.  

Ashwatthama also directs his brahmAstra at the womb of Uttara (daughter of king Virata, wife of Abhimanyu) to finish off the as-yet unborn Parikshit, since he would be the last of the Kuru clan. Krishna uses his chakra to protect the child and mother, but only ends up reviving the child after a still-birth.

Lastly, Duryodhana, in his death bed, requests Ashwatthama to have a child with his wife Banumati, so that that child can be the ruler of Hastinapura. While Ashwatthama does not actually oblige, he neither accepts not refuses to Duryodhana, not a good quality for someone who should immediately know the right Dharma.

On the last item, Vyasa himself sires Pandu and Dhritarashtra (with Ambika and Ambalika) to keep the Kuru clan alive. Is that considered Dharma because he is a rishi and God Himself? Or is it because Vyasa is a son of Satyavati (the fisherman's daughter who is married to Shantanu) and he is obeying his mother's command and acting on behalf of his now-dead younger brother Vichitravirya? In this case, the continuation of the clan is for the good of humanity, perhaps, while not so in the case of Duryodhana? 

Law and Order, Dharma

Courtesy: Wikipedia.org

I have always believed that law and order is the primary duty and reason for existence of the government in a state. All other regulations or activities that one would expect a government to do will fall under law and order.

To begin with, life is probably the most important thing that living beings covet. The state must first protect life. That is, when we step out to go to the market, we should not fear for our lives, or face any intimidation that includes potential for violence against our selves.

Going up the 'pyramid', personal belongings, the environment and natural resources, etc., become important. These get into areas where no one man is necessarily affected directly, but the state needs to take on the responsibility for future generations, as well as for the protection of nature in general.

In some ways, the United States, and the modern Western world in general, are successful and just societies (relatively) because of the presence of reliable and effective law and order. Even Jinnah believed this, while unfortunately other Indian leaders of the time unfortunately didn't accord law and order as much importance.

The Manusmruti is probably the oldest book on law and order, and is supposed to cover not just crimes and such but a horde of other do's and don'ts, rituals to be followed, duties of the different classes of people, etc. I began reading a translation of Chanakya's Arthashastra a few months ago. Like the Manusmruti, the Arthashastra too is not necessarily an account of the laws in vogue at the time they were written. The Manusmruti is of course much more ancient than the Arthashastra.

By the way, here's an interesting article by Stephen Knapp on the 'Purpose of Government According to the Mahabharata' where he discusses Manusmruti.

In the Mahabharata, Yudhishtira is hailed as 'Dharmaraja'. An example of his sense of justice is when he chooses to have Nakula brought back to life when all his brothers are killed by a divine 'demon' (Dharma, who Yudhishtira is an avatara of?) Yudhishtira's reasoning for bringing Nakula back in spite of the chance of bringing the powerful Bhima or Arjuna back was that his father had two wives, and he the first wife's son was alive. It was only just to have a son of the other wife alive too, ahead of Arjuna or Bhima. The 'demon' (who was just testing Yudhishtira) brings back all his brothers alive anyway, overjoyed by Yudhishtira's Dharmic stance. Dharma is hence a matter of not just law, but of ethics as well. No punishments for not being Dharmic in many cases.

There probably are some things that are plain obvious to us regarding dharma. Should I kill an animal and eat it just because it is going to be tasty? No. How can you drink milk, it after all is from the cow and intended for its own calf? This is more difficult to answer, but the shrutis (Vedas), Puranas and the Manusmruti all talk of the cow's products as being made available to mankind, and therefore not being off limits. Protecting mankind is the duty of the cow, and taking care of it is ours (putting it between two buns isn't). On other topics, the question of dharma can become tricky, especially since most of us have very limited knowledge.

Why Bhima is the real hero of the Mahabharata!

Image: thekarna.wordpress.com

There is many a character that one can claim is the 'real' hero of the Mahabharata. I would leave Krishna out of this discussion. There is no doubt that when the Lord incarnates, He is the protagonist and everything revolves around Him.

Krishna aside, the contenders for the next spot include Arjuna, Krishna, Bhishma, and maybe a few others. Some might even put Duryodhana in their list. I, however, put Bhima on top.

Bhima is born the second son of Pandu and Kunti (an avatar of Vayu). Even as a child, his immense strength is on display. When the Pandava children are playing, Bhima is accidentally dropped on a rock. To the parents' surprise, it is the rock that is shattered and Bhima is as cheerful as ever.

During the training period under Dronacharya, along with the Kauravas, while Arjuna chooses the bow and arrow as his weapon of choice, Bhima picks the gada (mace) and so does Duryodhana. (Duryodhana is also actually taught by Balarama, Krishna's elder brother).

In the Draupadi swayamvara, it is Arjuna who is chosen to contest (shooting a revolving fish's eye, not looking directly at it?). While the popular version of the story tells us that 'Arjuna won Draupadi' but due to Kunti's mistake all the brothers end up 'sharing' her, there are other lesser known versions with deeper explanations. One of the back stories is that Draupadi ends up with '5 husbands' because of a wish that was granted by Shiva to her in her previous birth (as Nalayani, the daughter of Nala and Damayanthi). Instead of getting a husband with her 5 favourite qualities, she ends up getting 5 separate husbands. Shiva also blesses her that she would regain her virginity each morning. I have heard another back story that extends this. 4 other devis (the divine consorts of the other Pandavas I think) also have some similar wish granted, due to which they end up having to share Draupadi's body. It is the right devi that actually inhabits Draupadi's body each time 'Draupadi' is with a Pandava.

In any case, Draupadi herself is considered an avatar of Bharati (consort of Vayu), and hence it cannot be Arjuna that is the 'rightful' husband, even though he is the one that participates in the contest. It sure is Bhima. There is a much longer story behind why Arjuna is chosen to contest, and not Bhima. The story involves Shikhandi (something I recently learned of) and will try to post this sometime soon.

Some other quick points on key Bhima acts/slayings:

1) Even in Duryadhana's court, before Draupadi's vastraapaharana took place, Bhima is all fury, and is controlled by Yudhishtira. He makes a vow to Draupadi that he will bring her the blood of Duhsshasana until which Draupadi vows that she will not wash her hair (?). I don't know of any other Pandava

2) Bhima slays Duryodhana and Duhsshasana in the war. These are the main evil characters in the entire Mahabharata.

3) Bhima sacrifices his son Ghatothkacha without a second thought, for the sake of Dharma. Had it not been for Ghatothkacha, Arjuna may have been harmed by Karna. More on this story later.

4) In no way does Bhima ever doubt that Krishna is the supreme being. Arjuna is in doubt whether Krishna might be harmed, forgetting that Krishna is the one controlling the chariot and Arjuna merely the tool. Yudhishtira is afraid that Duryodhana might harm Krisha when he goes to his court to negotiate peace; again forgetting that He protects all, and there should be no such doubts. I am not taking anything away from Arjuna or Yudhishtira, and I am being nitpicky, but these are devatas we are talking about and each one has his/her position in the hierarchy of the pantheon of Gods.

Indra - good, bad, and ugly

Indra plays several characters in the two epics. He appears as Indra himself several times, and as distinct characters/avatars.

The most famous avatar of Indra of course is Arjuna in the Mahabharata. And we all know Arjuna was 'good'. But are there darker shades to Indra, the head of the devas? There are many!

The puranas and the epics build an image of Indra that is playboy-ish. While he does lead the devas, is a key member of the pantheon of Gods, etc., he still has dark shades to his character that no other God has.

The first story where Indra is clearly a villain is that of Ahalya from the Ramayana. Very interesting story, with a lot of takeaways for us in the modern world.

(image courtesy columbia.edu -
Raja Ravi Verma)

Ahalya is described in the puranas as being created specially by Brahma. He creates her to best Urvashi in Indra's court in beauty. She is sent to rishi Gautama's ashrama to be raised, and when she is presented back to Brahma, he is pleased with Gautama's restraint. An open competition is held for all to contest for her hand. Indra, having taken a fancy to Ahalya (and by some accounts, she to him) contests. The first to complete a circle of the world is to be considered the winner.

Gautama does a 'Ganesha' and quickly circles his cow that is giving birth. According to the shastras, a cow that is giving birth is considered equivalent to the entire world, and hence Gautama is declared winner.

After marriage, when Gautama is away from his ashrama, Indra appears in the form of Gautama and seduces Ahalya, leading her to be cursed by Gautama. She would remain unseen to the outside world, as a rock, until Rama brushes his feet on the rock, 60000 years later, to redeem her. Some accounts in the puranas lay part of the blame on Ahalya, but Indra ia accepted universally as having seduced her. And don't worry that he wasn't punished for his act. Gautama curses him that half the blame for any 'rape' of anybody in the world in the future would belong to Indra. Quite a reputation indeed, gained during Satya Yuga (when the influence of Kali is nil). There's more to the curses heaped on him, but the different puranic versions are too many to recount.

The story of Ahalya is a very sensitive issue even today, with women's movements picking it up as a key example of how women are targeted for the faults of others, etc. Some others blame Ahalya for being easy prey. I'll leave Ahalya alone, I'm content to pick on Indra!

(image courtesy gangesindia.com)

During the Ramayana itself, Indra incarnates as Vali, Sugriva's brother. Vali abducts his brother's wife, and Sugriva seeks Rama's help in return for his vaanara forces' help in invading Lanka.

Rama shoots Vali down without facing him in battle, something critics of Rama say he should not have done. Where did yuddha dharma go, whoever the opponent might be?

I however would say that yuddha dharma does not apply in all cases. Just like speaking the truth all the time isn't a virtue (there are cases when speaking a lie can be the dharma).

Given that Vali has abducted his brother's wife, he is not entitled to a fair battle. He deserved to be shot down by whatever means. It does not reflect on Rama's character in any way, just on Vali's (Indra) action.

Here again, a clearly bad character, keeping Indra's reputation up.

(image courtesy wikipedia)

Even in the Mahabharata, where Indra plays a mostly clean Arjuna and some other characters, there are dark shades to be seen.

Indra does play some bit roles, including that of an ascetic who goes to Karna during his surya pooja. Knowing that Karna would give away anything that was asked after surya pooja, he asks for his kavacha (the armour he was born with). Karna realizes that this must be Indra incognito (to help Arjuna his archrival), but goes ahead and cuts his armour off. Nothing much bad about Indra's role here, but it does appear to be trickery at first glance, even if it were to Karna, a not so good character inspite of his virtues.


(image courtesy augadha.com)

As Arjuna, while Indra does not commit too many mistakes, there are many episodes that indicate doubt on his abilities or character.

First, Dronacharya protects him in the face of challengers, to keep him the best archer of his times. Ekalavya's thumb is taken, making him incapable of rivaling Arjuna's prowess. Karna is insulted because he isn't a kshatriya, and while he may have displayed skills better than Arjuna, he is insulted by many, including Drona. Even Draupadi, when it seems like Karna might win the swayamvara, tells him that he is ineligible to participate because he was not kshatriya. All these make Arjuna look less grand, almost as if he had godfathers everywhere who would do anything to protect him.

The episode of Abhimanyu dying inside the chakravyuha is heartbreaking. Nonetheless, Arjuna's reaction leaves a lot to be desired. First, Arjuna, in one episode in the Mahabharata is seeing advising a man not to cry at his son's funeral because the son was merely departing his present body, etc. Second, Arjuna hears the whole geeta upadesha from Krishna at the start of the war. He even confirms that he has understood the impermanence of life, and the need for dharma. Within 18 days of hearing the geeta, he cries when Abhimanyu is dead. Krishna then tells Arjuna that he might have as well done geeta upadesha to more deserving people like Bhima. More on Bhima later!

So, there. Indra's good, bad, and the ugly.