In the previous episode, we had witnessed Yudishtra and Co. taking some final words of advice from Sage Dhoumya as they entered into the Viraata Desha. Yudishtra enters into the king’s palace to serve him as an able servant. Subsequently, Bheemasena enters into the kitchen to serve as a cook, Arjuna enters into the king’s daughter’s chamber to teach music and dance to her, Nakula enters the horse stable to take care of the horses and Sahadeva enters the cowshed to take care of the cows. Similarly, Draupati enters into the queen Sudeshna Devi’s chamber to serve her in all ways. Thus, as days progress, all of them serve to the best of their abilities, which impresses many people in the Viraata Desha, including the king himself. Talks start to surface that these people aren’t ordinary ones, but have some divine power in them. However, the Paandava brothers play those talks down by projecting themselves to be normal human beings and have come to serve the king in all possible ways. The Paandava brothers are very careful in concealing their identities and in this way, four months pass by. We still have around eight more months to go, and we shall continue from this point onwards in today’s episode.
Moving on from here, as days progress, there is a huge festival that is going to take place in the Viraata Desha, and when I say “function”, it is a competition in “Dvandha Yuddham” (Wrestling competition). For this competition, a lot of people from other kingdoms are going to participate and showcase their talents. From some another kingdom, there is a wrestling expert by name “Jeemuthaa”, who had gone and won competition after competition in various kingdoms including the Viraata Desha earlier. As none from Viraata Desha is unable to win any competition so far, the king of Viraata Desha is very unhappy and dejected. He feels that his people are well-trained and even after providing all possible facilities, they are unable to win even a single competition. At this point, Kanka (Yudishtra’s disguised name) suggests to the king thus, “Oh great king! Please do not worry! Recently I’ve seen a “Balishta” (Very powerful person physically) in our kitchen. Maybe you can send him to fight over Jeemuthaa. He might be a good representative from our kingdom!” As Kanka says thus, the king wonders within himself – “Oh wow! What is a kitchen servant going to do in a wrestling competition?” As the king is thoughtful thus, Kanka continues his suggestion – “Oh King! As I’ve mentioned to you earlier, I’ve been amidst the great Paandava brothers at Indraprastha earlier, I’ve seen the strength and capability of this person, who was also there in the kitchen at that time. His name is Vallabha (Bheemasena’s disguised name). He will be a good match of strength for sure! Give him an opportunity!”
As Kanka says convincingly thus, the Viraata king relents to his advice and sends Vallabha for the fight. A huge wrestle endures and at the end of it, Vallabha easily defeats Jeemuthaa. At one point, Vallabha lifts Jeemuthaa with just a single hand, rotates him with his raw muscle power and throws him away quite easily! Unable to withstand Vallabha’s blasting blows, Jeemuthaa falls on the ground dead, with fractures all over his body! With this, Vallabha is declared the winner and the Viraata King is extremely happy with the good news! He immediately calls Vallabha to his chamber, appreciates him and provides him with a lot of gift items. The king is extremely happy and satisfied that finally his kingdom has someone who can claim to be a champion in the “Dvandha Yuddham”.
With this sweet victory, we come to the end of the “Samaya-Paalana Parva” and for today, let us understand up to this point. We shall wait till the next episode to continue with the next important Upa-Parva under the main Viraata Parva! Stay tuned for more updates! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 