Bhimasena

Compiled From Dvaita List

Greetings.

The following is a compendium of several messages which were sent as part of the original discussion on this subject about six months ago. I'm not sure I have gathered up all of the postings made on this topic, but I think I have got the main ones at least. Please excuse the length of this posting. I have taken the liberty of removing material from any of the postings wherever such did not relate to Bhiimasena directly.

One note: Prabhakar Kamath, a.k.a. Bob Kamath, one of the participants in that discussion, signed off the list soon after, saying the mail-load was too heavy (maybe we should invite him to join the digest, though). Thus, do not address any questions to him on the list; you may contact him by private e-mail, I suppose, but it would be safest not to assume that he would be interested, even though his departure was not marked by acrimony.

In Bhagwat Gita

Krisna says "Among philosophies I am Sankhya, among Rishies I am Kapila, Among Ayudha I am Vajrayudha, Among Pandavas I am Dhananjaya .."

The question is how to reconcile this with statement of Sri Krisna with the taaratamya. We would expect Sri Bheema to have that privilege

The simple answer I could think of is that Krishna is simply saying that He is what makes Arjun the Dhananjaya, in other words, He is just taking about the 'best in class' and Arjun certainly is believed to be the best warrior (or atleast the best archer) among the Pandavas, like Kapila among sages, etc. Besides, Krishna has addressed Arjun as His best friend so his devotion shouldn't be questioned either.

(Anand said sri Bheema was the best warrior among Pandavas, not Arjun, which is different from what I have heard but I could be wrong.)

I am not aware that Krishna has addressed Arjuna as His _best_ friend; as his friend ("sakha") yes, certainly.

And yes, Bhimasena is considered the greatest warrior *on either side*. Notice verse I-10 of the 'Gita:

"aparyaaptam.h tadasmaakam.h

balam.h bhiishmaabhirakshitaM; paryaaptam.h tvidam.h eteshhaam balam.h

bhiimaabhirakshitam.h" --

those of you who have read the

Hindu/Vaishnava groups regularly for a while may remember that I have used this verse a few times as an example of one where I disagree with Prabhupada's translation. He translates the verse to mean "our army is adequately defended by Bhiishma, whilst theirs is inadequately defended by Bhiima" (paraphrased and compressed). The explanation according to Maadhva and Raamaanujiiya traditions is the exact opposite; in fact, it also seems most sensible to me, since "a-paryaaptam" and "paryaaptam" mean "in-adequate" and "adequate," as even those with little knowledge of Sanskrit can tell.

At any rate, this verse does indicate that Bhiima is considered the most noteworthy warrior in the Paandava army. There are other references also; shortly (a few days or weeks) before the war, during a discussion, *Bhima* proposes peace, saying they should avoid war and accept five villages instead. Krishna professes surprise, saying "has fire cooled?" -- or words to that effect, and also says that the major burden of the war will lie with him, Bhiima. And according to Vyaasa, Bhiima did take out all hundred Kaurava brothers, and seven of their eleven akshauhiNis. In fact, there is one specific occasion during the war, when the Kaurava commander (Drona?) tries to overcome Bhiimasena by attacking him from all sides with a huge portion of the army -- the strategy backfires, of course, because a third of the total strength of the Kaurava army (11/3 ~ 3.67 Aksh.) is lost within the space of some minutes. The description of this event is very vivid; I can't recall the verses themselves, nor even exact details, but the scene is depicted as something like an army with a huge cyclone in the middle churning through it and destroying it.

It is also a common misconception that Bhiima was _not_ a great archer; he was in fact as good as, if not better than, Arjuna in this department. During the ViraaTa-parva, when ViraaTa was attacked and captured by the Kauravas' friend (Somadatta? Not sure about his name), YudhishThira turned to Bhiima and the twins, and said it was their duty to help ViraaTa out, to repay their debt to him for hosting them; Bhima immediately said he would uproot a huge tree and take out the opposing army with huge sweeps of it. YudhishThira asked him not to, since such a feat would lead to premature discovery of their identity, since only Bhiima could have accomplished such a feat. He asks Bhiima to use a bow and arrows like any "normal" warrior; dutifully, Bhiima uses such to rescue ViraaTa.

It is not common knowledge that while Arjuna had a hard time beating Karna in single combat (and in fact could only get him due to the curses on Karna laid by Parashuraama and a braahmaNa, which led to the latter forgetting crucial mantras, losing his charioteer, and getting his wheel stuck in the mud), Bhiima actually beat him *using bow and arrows* no fewer than seven times. There is a completely false story very popular that Karna actually "spared" Bhiima on one occasion, but Vyaasa's account does not speak of any such. On one occasion, both Bhiima and Karna were "hurt" and retired. In fact, on one of the seven occasions, Karna was very abusive, and was knocked unconscious by Bhiima; the latter then wanted to cut off Karna's tongue. Shalya, Karna's charioteer, intervends and asked Bhiima to spare Karna for Arjuna. In fact, when Karna's time came, Bhiima was fighting near Arjuna and goading him on, reminding him that Karna had been spared for him, and would not be spared much longer; if he didn't get Karna quickly, the latter would no longer be available as a target.

Also, when Duhshaasana and Bhiima meet, the former initially appears to score, and after a bit of playing cat-and-mouse, Bhiima knocks down Duhshaasana, puts one foot on his chest, and announces that he is going to be killed, and if anyone has any objections, they should come forward. Karna was among the spectators; neither he nor anyone else on his side dared intervene, and could only stare helplessly at their fallen comrade. And when the end comes for Duhshaasana, with Bhiima digging into his chest and "drinking" his blood, Karna swooned in fright; it is even said that the entire assemblage of warriors -- who were used to carnage, and were seeing it all around them then in any case, screamed hoarsely in fear and dismay.

And then again, there is the incident of Bhiimasena facing up to Ashwatthaama's NaaraayaNa-astra; this is a more potent weapon that even the Brahmaastra, and not even Indra could face up to it.

I read with interest the discussion about whether Bheema's faith was more than that of Arjuna. In this regard I recount here a Mahabharata upakathaa. Arjuna went to the Himalayas to perform tapas to win over Eeshwara. He stood on one leg and performed penance for several years ignoring nature's severities. Admiring Arjuna's single minded devotion, Eaashwara appeared to Arjuna and asked what he "vara" he could bestow upon him. Arjuna asked for a mighty weapon which he could use against his enemies. Eeshwara gave Arjuna Paashupatastra. Delighted at his good fortune, Arjuna triumphantly returned to Indraprasta.

Arjuna was received in Indraprasta as a great hero.Every one talked about Arjuna's heroism and faith. Arjuna walked around proudly displaying his mighty weapon.

Disgusted by this kind of boastfulness and showmanship, Bheema said to Arjuna in front of a group of people, "Arjuna, it does not behoove you to boast about your faith everywhere you go. Be a little humble about it." Infuriated, Arjuna said, "Why are you so envious of me? Obviously you do not know what sacrifices I have made and what hardships I have endured to make Eeshwara come down from heaven to meet me. Why should you question my faith? Can you bring down Eeshwara if you wished to?"

Instantly Bheema raised his mace (gadaa) and threw it up in the air as high as his mighty arm could. He then stood right below the falling mace so it would fall directly on his head. He then said, "If Eeshwara believes in my faith in him, he will catch this mace before it breaks my head into a thousand pieces!" As everyone watched in horror the falling mace, Bheema stood smiling under it. Just as the mace was about to hit Bheema's head, Eeshwara suddenly appeared above Bheema's head and cought it in the air, thus saving Bheema from certain death. Having done this, Eeshwara disappeared.

Arjuna never bragged about his faith any longer.

While we are on the topic of shrii bhiimasena's faith in the lord, let us look at specific instances in mahabharata which give us a glimpse of it.

1. shrii bhiima is utilized by lord shrii kR^ishhNa to kill many evil personalities like jarAsandha, kiichaka, duryodana etc. In most fights, lord urges bhima to use non-standard methods of combat to eliminate the opponents. bhiiima does what lord instructs him to do. That is faith, the act may be pleasent or unpleasent, it may or may not be according to convention, yet one has do his duty to please the lord.

2. Again, when shrii dronaacharya is causing havoc on the pandava army, lord summons bhima and asks him kill an elephant named ashwathama and proclaim that ashwathama is dead. If we look at at, this act may appear to be reprehensible, it is almost like saying a lie!! Yet in Giita lord himself says, "I am the cheat among deceitful." bhiima has no difference of opinion with the lord. He just does what was asked of him. That is faith!!

3. When sow draupadi is attemped to be humiliated in the sabha after the game of dice, only lord comes to the rescue of his devotee. Yet, among all present, nobody has the guts to question or challenge what had happened to draupadi except shrii bhiimasena. His moral compass and his faith in the lord is of such immense magnitude. No matter what the circumstance, he did what was pleasing to the lord.

4. Remeber, shrii kR^ishhNa paramAtma had to literally urge and remind arjuna of his duty toward HIM. While in case of yudhishhtira and bhiima no so such reminding was necessary!! Arjuna is more like us, with all the human frailities. We are, of course, greatly indebted to arjuna, but for whom we would not have gotten shriimad bhagavadgiita from the lord.

All such instances reveal that there are great souls who have immense understanding, knowledge and faith in the lord.

There is kannada song that goes like this:

" dasaraliiye hanumananthaha dasrasu yelli illa

bhaktaraliiye bhiimanantha bhaktaru yelli illa"

Amongst those who serve the lord there is none likehanuman and amongst those who have faith in lord

there is none like bhiima.

I wish I had such faith in shrii kR^ishhNa paramAtma!!

I read with interest the discussion about whether Bheema's faith was more

[*chomp*]

Arjuna never bragged about his faith any longer.

Prabhakar Kamath

Interesting story. However, I seem to think it is somewhat "out of character" for Bhiimasena to have acted as he's said to have, here. More like him to have raised his mace and said "Iishvara (Shiva), you'd better show up here now, or else I'll come and get you!" -- he did something very similar to Indra; when Kunti Devi was planning on performing a "vrata," and needed an elephant, Bhiima procured Indra's elephant Airaavata for the purpose (without praying for it).

Anyway, where exactly is this story narrated? I think I'd have heard f it if it were in Vyaasa's original version. As far as I know, that makes no mention of Arjuna's pride or Bhiima's throwing a mace, but does say that after Arjuna returned after his penance, during which he acquired the Paashupata from Shiva, various other weapons from the Devas, magical tricks and singing and dancing skills from the Gandharvas (the last being useful to him as Brihannala), YudhishhThira asked him to demonstrate the weapons because he was curious about them. Forgetting or ignoring the injunction about not discharging the celestial weapons lightly, Arjuna actually set out to give a demonstration; at that time, there was an "ashariira-vaaNii" from the sky which reminded him of the grave consequences of such an act, and asked him to desist. Thus, YudhishhThira could not get his demonstration as requested.

"If Eeshwara believes in my faith in him, he will catch this maceb before it breaks my head into a thousand pieces!" As everyone watched in horror the falling mace, Bheema stood smiling under it. Just as the mace was about to hit Bheema's head, Eeshwara suddenly appeared above Bheema's head and cought it in the air, thus saving Bheema from certain death. Having done this, Eeshwara disappeared.

Sri Bhima sena refers to Lord Krishna and not Eeshwara(Shiva) here. Sri Bhima sena tells that if he has real devotion towards Lord Krishna, then before the Gadha falls on his head, let lord Krishna come and rescue me. When the mace is about to fall on Sri Bhima's head, Lord Krishna hold the Gadha protects Sri Bhima sena.

I remember one more instance from Mahabharatha. Arjuna will be worshipping lord Vishnu with various kinds of flowers. Lord Krishna appears in front of Arjuna. Arjuna sees heaps and heaps of flowers that will be offered to Lord krishna. Arjuna asks lord Krishna who offered all those flowers? Lord Krishna replies that it is Sri Bhima sena and tells Arjuna that Bhima sena has his mind always set on him (Lord Krishna). It so happened that Sri Bhima sena saw a garden full of flowers and he offered them to lord Krishna by just telling 'Sri KrishnaArpana Masthu'.