In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sage Maithreya making his point very clear to King Dhridiraashtra – He has to find some way or the other to control Duryodhana, and there is no other option left in his table to resurrect things at Hastinapura. If at all King Dhridiraashtra has to reverse Sage Maithreya’s curse, Duryodhana should mend his ways and repent for all the mistakes that he had committed to Yudishtra and Co. If he’s not ready to do so, he has to get prepared to meet a ghastly end to his life in the hands of Bheemasena, who would plunder his thighs and kill him mercilessly! As Sage Maithreya says thus, he quickly hurries out of the palace with a heavy heart. He is clearly upset with Duryodhana’s insulting and abusive words, however, “Adharma” is now at its peak. After Sage Maithreya leaves, King Dhridiraashtra is completely blank. How is he going to mend Duryodhana’s ways from here on? Is it really possible for him to do so? If Duryodhana is not willing to listen to Sage Vyaasa’s and Sage Maithreya’s words, who on earth could advise Duryodhana henceforth? At the same time, King Dhridiraashtra internally wants Duryodhana to be the ruler of his kingdom and not Yudishtra! Thus, King Dhridiraashtra is currently in a confused state of mind here – How does he ensure that Duryodhana stops his “Adharmic” way of life, and at the same time, how can he make Duryodhana succeed him as the next king?
As this happens, we shall now move on to the next “Parva” called “Kirmeera Vadha Parva”. This is a simple and a very easy “Parva” to go through. There is a Raakshasa by name “Kirmeera”. As the Paandavas are roaming all around the “Kaamyaka Vanam” forest, they encounter this Kirmeera with a huge physical form and with a threatening appearance. Now we’ve to understand who this Kirmeera is. We’ve witnessed another Raakshasa by name “Bhakaaasura” or simply referred to as “Bhaka”. We’ve already seen earlier that when the Paandavas were roaming around the “Eka-Chakra-Nagara” in a disguised “Sannyasin” form after they escaped from the “Laaksha Griha” (Wax palace) ploy, they were residing at one house wherein they were preparing truckloads of food for a Raakshasa called “Bhakaasura”. We’ve witnessed that Bheemasena took over the responsibility to hand over all the food to Bhakaasura, and instead of doing so, he himself consumed all the food! This made Bhakaasura angry and there was a huge fight between Bheemasena and Bhakaasura. At the end, Bheemasena emerged victorious and Bhakaasura had to meet a painful death at the hands of Bheemasena. It is to this Bhakaasura, Krimeera was a brother to! Thus, we can see here that Kirmeera and Bhakaasura are brothers to each other. Bhakaasura is no more, and Kirmeera is the other one who is left over.
As Kirmeera sees the Paandavas roaming around in the “Kaamyaka Vanam”, he understands that it is one amongst these five brothers who had killed his brother Bhakaasura. Hence, he wants to avenge his death by killing all the five Paandava brothers. He thus waits till the night time, and after all of them go to sleep, Kirmeera decides that this is the apt time for him to go for the kill! He thus takes a huge form and with a loud sound, approaches the vicinity of the Paandava brothers. Yudishtra and Co. are fast asleep and Bheemasena is awake, looking around in all directions in a bid to safeguard the others who are sleeping. As Bheemasena looks around thus, he hears a loud thud sound with enormous trees and branches being crushed onto the ground! Upon wondering what is going on all of a sudden in the middle of the night, Bheemasena looks around and finds a huge Raakshasa coming towards him with a ferocious form!
As this happens, Yudishtra and Co. also wake up from their deep slumber and rush towards Bheemasena to check what is happening. Upon seeing a huge Raakshasa approaching them, Yudishtra goes forward and asks the Raakshasa thus, “Who are you? What are you here for? Where are you coming from? Please let us know what we can do for you?” We can see here that even if a Raakshasa comes in front, Yudishtra is a person who never loses his calm and composure! He patiently and calmly asks the Raakshasa his background and whereabouts and this shows how Yudishtra is deeply involved in following the path of “Dharma”.
As Yudishtra asks thus, Kirmeera introduces himself thus, “Oh Yudishtra! I’m Kirmeera, the brother of Bhakaasura, whom your brother Bheemasena killed some years ago. There was another Raakshasa by name Hidimba, who is one of my relatives. Bheemasena had killed Hidimba as well. Thus, because of all this, I’ve come to seek an explanation from Bheemasena and to avenge their killings. As Kirmeera demands an explanation, Bheemasena is not interested in giving any answer! He instead invites Kirmeera for a fight! A huge fight erupted between the two of them and at the end, Kirmeera couldn’t withstand the raw muscle power of Bheemasena and finally he breathed his last!
Thus, with this, Kirmeera is also killed and this marks the end of this small “Parva” called the “Kirmeera-Vada-Parva”. So for today, let us understand up to this point and we shall wait till the next episode to move on further from here! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 