Episode # 176 – Hidimbi expresses interest to marry Bheemasena!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Vidura lambasting Bhishmaachaarya for his relative inaction towards Duryodhana’s atrocity of going to the extent of killing the Paandava brothers for no fault of theirs. Vidura clearly outlined Bhishmaachaarya’s strengths – both physical and mental, yet, something was holding him back from taking strict action against Duryodhana for his wrongdoings. Forget doing something – Bhishmaachaarya could have once raised his voice and condemned Duryodhana for his “Adharma”, but Bhishmaachaarya rather remained a mute spectator to what was happening in front of his two eyes. As Vidura asks Bhishmaachaarya as to why he was silent, Bhishmaachaarya replied back with tears in his eyes saying that it was his magnanimity towards King Dhirdiraashtra and Paandu that was making him keep mum! He was unable to raise his voice because he was constantly pulled back by the attachment and affection he had towards King Dhiridraashtra and his sons. Thus, Bhishmaachaarya gave more importance to his worldly attachment than to protecting “Dharma” by taking a neutral stance. This is where Bhishmaachaarya failed miserably and for all of this, he is going to face the wrath sooner or later. We shall find out as the time approaches. 

Thus, these were the happenings at Hastinapura, post the “Laaksha Griha” episode that happened at Vaaranavatha Desha. Moving on thus, we shall now shift our focus towards the Paandava brothers and Kunthi Devi and let us see what happened to them post this heinous attempt to kill. As we’ve witnessed earlier, Vidura’s assistant helped them to cross the river Ganges in his raft and after this, the Paandavas were roaming around in the dense forest area. That entire day went off in roaming here and there in the forest area, and during the night time, all of them were tired. They just spotted a huge tree and beneath this tree, all of them were lying down. As Mother Kunthi Devi and his brothers were fast asleep, Bheemasena was the only one who was awake. He shed tears of sorrow upon looking at his mother and his brothers who were sleeping on the muddy surface. Yudishtra was supposed to be a great king, and he should have been sleeping on his royal cot in the palace. However, as fate would have it, he was sleeping on the floor, amidst the heat, cold and rain. Upon looking at this, Bheemasena couldn’t hold back his tears. 

As Bheemasena was crying thus, he was also simultaneously looking out for some food and water for all of them. It is at this time, there was a Raakshasa by name “Hidimba” who was sitting on the top of a nearby tree trunk. This Hidimba spots these five people and thought that he has a good amount of food today! He wanted to kill these five people and have them as his prey. With this in mind, Hidimba called his sister, whose name was “Hidimbi”. Hidimba tells Hidimbi thus, “Oh sister! Look there! We have some five or six human beings wandering around without knowing that they’ve come near a powerful Raakshasa. You go and see if we can capture them and eat them off!” 

Thus, as per Hidimba’s instruction, Hidimbi comes along to see who these people are. Before killing them, she wanted to know their whereabouts and where they were from. As Hidimbi came closer, it was only Bheemasena who was awake and the rest were sleeping. Upon seeing Bheemasena for the first time, instead of the fighting attitude, Hidimbi fell in love with Bheemasena instantly! She decided on the spot that if at all there’s a marriage for her in this lifetime, it should only be with this person and nobody else! With this intention, she approaches Bheemasena and slowly starts a conversation with him. As Bheemasena introduces himself to her, she knows that this person is not an ordinary boy. He is a very powerful person and her love for him only increased from there on. Thus, Hidimbi slowly expresses her interest to marry Bheemasena. She proposes to Bheemasena that she wants to marry him immediately as she started loving him so much! 

Upon hearing Hidimbi’s direct proposal, Bheemasena couldn’t believe his ears! He initially did not know how to react to Hidimbi’s request. So what is Bheemasena going to reply? Is he going to accept Hidimbi’s request to marry her? Let us wait till the next episode to witness Bheemasena’s reaction! Stay tuned! 🙂