In a great forest lived a fearsome rakshasa. The demon stood ten feet tall. His skin was putrid gray. His eyes and teeth were sharp and yellow. This monstrous man-eater's name was Hidimba.
Although this rakshasa was fearsome, he was as lazy as he was terrifying. To satisfy his insatiable hunger, he would send his demon sister, Hidimbi, to hunt for lonely travelers. Hidimbi shared her brother's repulsive visage, albeit in a smaller and more slender frame. She was not trapped in her hideous body. Due to her power as a demoness, she could shape shift into any form that pleased her. She did so frequently. Her favorite form was that of a nymph. She knew that men found the long hair and dewy eyes of a nymph irresistible. However, she was realizing that the challenge of the seductress was growing old; her tricks always worked and the endeavor lacked spontaneity. More and more she was shifting into a deadly jaguar or tiger to chase after the humans.
Hidimbi was perched in a tree, contemplating the details of her next hunt, when Hidimba called out her from his cave.
"Sister. My stomach howls with hunger. It is time to hunt for my dinner."
Hidimbi replied to his demands by transforming into a bird and flying to Hidimba's cave. She dived from the sky towards the ground. Transforming at the last second, she landed gracefully on the feet of her true form. Hidimba rolled his eyes at his sister. "You waste so much energy with all of that shape-shifting."
"Well, you expend no energy at all, "Hidimbi coolly retorted.
Hidimba turned and smiled at his young sister, "When you have lived to see as many suns as I have, you will learn that the easiest way is the best. And what is easiest for me... is making use of you."
Hidimbi laughed. "You are lucky I like hunting." Hidimba was the only family she had ever known. He had raised her for as long as she remembered. She would never admit it, but she loved her brother deeply.
Hidimba suddenly lifted his snout into the air. He breathed in deeply as his slippery purple tongue circled his lips. He groaned and shot a fierce glare at Hidimbi. "We are in for a treat today." He lifted up his nose to smell the air again. "A band of travelers has entered our wood. Go and hunt."
Hidimbi shot into the air as a bird. She left her head unchanged so that she could track the smell of the humans. Soon, she saw them: a troupe of five men and one woman. She flew down into the leaves of the tallest trees. There she took the form of a monkey. High in the branches, she swung in pace with the humans who walked far beneath her. She edged closer. Soon she could hear the chatter of their conversation.
When she saw him, she nearly fell out of the tree.
There was a man among the group, unlike any she had seen before. He lit her heart on fire. The blood in her veins burned. Hidimbi steadied herself on the limb of the tree and moved closer towards the man. She was entranced by him. The way his hair was colored like the midnight sky and fell over his ears in loose waves. The sharp outline of his chin. She was in love. Suddenly, her grip on the branch she was climbing weakened. With a loud crash, she fell to the ground.
The five men instantly stopped, turned, and reached for their weapons. "Who is there?" one of the men called out.
Hidimbi had to think fast. The man she loved inched his way towards her. Quickly, she transformed from a monkey into a beautiful maiden. She rested beneath the tree and gave her best impression of a damsel's whimper.
"Are you alright?" The man took notice of her and reached out his hand in compassion. "Yes," Hidimbi replied, "I'm just lost." She feigned a sob.
"I am Bhima. Come with me."
Hidimbi took his hand. She felt an electric shock as she touched his skin. He took her to the group of people. He introduced them as his brothers and his mother. They were the Pandavas.
Hidimbi joined them as they made camp. She sat with Bhima at their fire for a long time. They talked and stared at the moon.
The moon was high in the sky when a roar shook the forest. Hidimbi jumped to her feet in fear. She knew that roar well. It was Hidimba. He had grown impatient in his hunger. The scent of the Pandavas must have driven him mad with desire for their flesh. The forest floor began to shake. Hidimba was coming. Hidimbi turned to Bhima. She knew she must reveal her identity. In a few short hours, she had given her heart fully to Bhima. She needed to protect him.
Hidimbi turned to Bhima. He had already brandished his weapon. "Bhima, I have two confessions for you." She stared with fear at his sword. Swallowing nervously she proclaimed, " First, I love you and wish to marry you. Second, a demon thirsts for your blood and is coming to claim it. I am the sister of this rakshasa."
Bhima snarled in disgust at Hidimbi. He pushed her to the ground and thrust his sword into the air to bring it down upon her. "Stop!" Hidimbi cried out. "I can help you."
"I will accept no help from you, demon." Bhima pressed his foot on Hidimbi's heaving chest.
"Hidimba will kill you. His skin cannot be pierced by weapons except for under his left arm." In one breath, Hidimbi pardoned the lives of Bhima and his family and sealed the fate of her brother.
Hidimba roared into the clearing where the humans had made camp. His eyes were on fire with rage and hunger. Bhima yelled a battle cry as he lunged toward the rakshasa. The two tussled in a fury of teeth and sword.
When Hidimba let out a piercing scream, Hidimbi knew the deed was done. Bhima had slain her brother. She rose onto her hands and knees in the dirt. She grabbed a handful of the soft earth. She took a deep breath. The air felt like it was cutting her throat. Red and black filled her vision. She fell back to the ground in a crumpled ball. Her heart was broken. Guilt split her stomach. She cried into the earth.
Bhima approached Hidimbi. He grabbed her by her hair and lifted her until her feet no longer touched the ground. "You deserve death too," he growled into her tear-streaked face.
"No! You cannot harm a woman. Even if she is a rakshasa," one of Bhima's brothers cried out.
"Fine." Bhima muttered. He continued to hold Hidimbi squirming and trembling in the air. Finally, he let her fall down.
Author's Note: In this story, Hidimbi meets Bhima and instantly falls intensely in love with him. Without a thought, she reveals her brother's weakness so that Bhima can kill him. This causes immense guilt for Hidimbi. In the original story, Hidimbi is sent by Hidimba to lure the Pandava brothers so that Hidimba can kill and eat them. Hidimbi falls in love with him, but Bhima does not need her help to kill Hidimba. I decided to add Hidimba's weakness so that Hidimbi's betrayal of her brother is more palpable.
I also wanted to play to Hidimbi’s immaturity. Her instantaneous love with Bhima is irrational and made think that she is probably really young. I wanted to show her youth with her playful shape-shifting in the first part of the story.
With Bhima's angry response to Hidimbi, I am trying to set up the mood for Hidimbi's and Bhima's marriage and a subsequent plot twist in the story. Eventually, Hidimbi will get her revenge for how Bhima mistreats her. In a lot of Indian epics, women are treated horribly. I hope that my story can be an avenue for one of those men to get the punishment that they deserve for being so horrible to women.
Bibliography: Wikipedia