The night of Hidimba's death, the heavens were velvet black. Yet, underneath the dark sky, the forest seemed lighter, alive with peace and relief. The demon that had long thirsted on the blood of the forest was dead. The Pandavas and the creatures of the wood enjoyed their camp and their homes at ease.
Only Hidimbi, sister of the mighty rakshasa, felt cold and empty. She gave up her brother to save Bhima, the love of her life, only for him to snarl at her and threaten her life.
As the group settled down for the night, Hidimbi found herself on the outskirts of the camp. Alone and away from the fire, she struggled to keep warm. She transformed her human skin into the fur of a jaguar to keep warm. Slowly, she drifted into a fitful sleep.
Close to the fire, Bhima lay sleeping beside his brothers and his mother. In his dreams, he arose from his sleeping mat to meet a glowing throne room. The room was made of stone and decorated with ornate tapestries. At the center of the room was a great throne. To its right, his mother, Kunti, lounged on a golden chaise. When she noticed Bhima, she stood and walked to him. As she neared, Bhima realized that it was not truly his mother, but a vision sent by the gods. "You will marry Hidimbi and have two sons by her," Kunti ordered. Bhima, a man of pious devotion to the gods, nodded.
Bhima woke from his dream. Recalling his divine mandate, he approached the sleeping figure of Hidimbi. He noticed the fur covering his skin. It caused his stomach to retch. "Enough of your devil tricks." Bhima nudged Hidimbi awake with his foot. She awoke startled and then embarrassed at the state of her skin. She quickly returned to her fully human form.
Bhima shook his head in disgust. "Now, stay like that." He offered a hand to Hidimbi. "I will send my family on and we will remain here. We are to be husband and wife until you deliver me two sons."
Hidimbi's heart leapt with joy. She grasped Bhima's outstretched hand. She was filled happiness and love. Bhima scowled and turned his gaze away from her. It was his divine duty to marry her, but he was not happy about it.
And so this pattern continued for Bhima and Hidimbi's marriage. Hidimbi did her best to please Bhima. She cooked and cleaned and she loved him. My! How she loved him. He returned her affection with coldness and disgust. Hidimbi ignored his actions. It was enough to just be with him.
Eventually, Hidimbi became pregnant. She was elated to be carrying Bhima's child. She knew that as soon as they became a real family, Bhima would love her. He couldn't leave his own children!
The time came for Hidimbi to have her child. To her surprise, it was not just one son, but two. Bhima witnessed the birth of the boys. He made sure they were cleaned and swaddled. Handing them to their mother, he left.
Hidimba erupted in rage. Finally, her eyes were opened to Bhima's heartlessness. She laid her sons down in their crib. She summoned the strength of her demon bloodline which had been dormant for so long. Her skin became gray, her hair ragged, her teeth yellow and sharp. She regained her rakshasa form. Looking down at her two sons, she smiled a harsh grin only known to scorned women and said," I'm going to teach you how to eat men, and then, you're going to help me kill your father."
Author's Note: The original story of Bhima and Hidimbi is really short and ambiguous. Basically, all you know is that Bhima and Hidimbi get married and have a son. Then Bhima leaves. In this story, I really wanted to show and focus on how unrequited Hidimbi's love for Bhima is. In the original story, Kunti orders Bhima to marry Hidimbi. In my opinion, this didn't seem logical. Instead, I remixed it so that it was deity coming to Bhima in a dream using the form of Kunti to force Bhima to marry Hidimbi. Hidimbi originally only gives birth to one son. I'm hoping to set up some future twin/familial dram in one of the next installments, so that's why I made them twins.
The GIF in the background is supposed to represent Hidimbi's anger. In my imagination, she was suppressing all of her anger towards Bhima and his mistreatment of her. She had created this illusion in her head that Bhima would love her as soon as they shared a child together. When this fantasy was shattered, her emotions broke down and she recognized Bhima's horrible actions. In response, she becomes a man-eating demon again to spite Bhima. Not only that, but she will also teach their sons to be the same.
Bibliography: Wikipedia