The Mahabharata/Book 1: Adi Parva/Section 129

Section CXXIX. *( Sambhava Parva continued. )* Vaisampayana said, "Meanwhile after having thus sported there, the Kauravas and the Pandavas, without Bhima, set out for Hastinapore, some on horses, some on elephants, while others preferred cars and other conveyances. And on their way they said to one another, 'Perhaps, Bhima hath gone before us.' And the wicked Duryodhana was glad at heart to miss Bhima, and entered the city with his brothers in joy. "The virtuous Yudhish-thira, unacquainted with vice and wickedness himself, regarded others as honest as himself. The eldest son of Prithā, filled with fraternal love, going unto his mother, said, after making obeisance to her, 'O mother, hath Bhima come? O good mother, I don't find him here? Where can he have gone? We long sought for him everywhere in the gardens and the beautiful woods; but found him nowhere. At length, we thought that the heroic Bhima had come before us all. O illustrious dame, we come hither in great anxiety. Arrived here, where hath he gone? Have you sent him anywhere? O tell me, I am full of doubts respecting the mighty Bhima! He had been asleep and hath not come. I conclude he is no more?' "Hearing these words of the highly intelligent Yudish-thira, Kunti shrieked ni alarm, and said, 'Dear son, I have not seen Bhima. He did not come tome. O, return in haste and with your brothers seek for him!' "Having said this, in affliction to her eldest son, she summoned Vidura, and said, 'O illustrious *Khatta*, Bhima-sena is missing! Where hath he gone! The other brothers have call come back from the gardens, only Bhima of mighty arms doth not come home! Duryodhana liketh him not. The Kaurava is crooked and malicious and low-minded and imprudent. He coveteth the throne openly. I am afraid lest he have in a fit of anger slain my darling! This afilicteth me sorely, indeed, burneth my heart!' "Vidura replied, 'Blessed dame, say not so! Protect thy other sons with care! If the wicked Duryodhana be accused, he may slay thy remaining sons. The great Muni hath said that thy sons will all be long-lived. Therefore Bhima will surely return and gladden thy heart!'" Vaisampayana continued, "The wise Vidura having said this unto Kunti returned to his abode, while Kunti, in great anxiety, continued to stay at home with her children. "Meanwhile, Bhima-sena awaked from that slumber on the eighth day, and felt himself strong beyond measure in consequence of the nectar he had taken having been all digested. Seeing him awake, the Nagas began to console and cheer him, saying, 'O thou of mighty arms, the strength-giving liquor thou hast drunk will give thee the might of ten thousand elephants! No one now will be able to vanquish thee in fight! O thou bull of the Kuru race, do thou bathe in this holy and auspicious water and return home. Thy brothers are disconsolate because of thee.' "Then Bhima purified himself with a bath in those waters, and decked in white robes and flowery garlands of the same hue, ate of the *paramanna* (rice and sugar pudding) offered to him by the Nagas. Then that oppressor of all foes, decked in celestial ornaments, received the adorations and blessings of the snakes, and saluting them in return, rose from the nether region. Bearing up the lotus-eyed Pandava from under the waters, the Nagas placed him in the self-same gardens wherein he had been sporting, and vanished in his very sight. "The mighty Bhima-sena, arrived on the surface of the earth, ran with speed to his mother. And bowing down unto her and his eldest brother, and scenting the heads of his younger brothers, that oppressor of all foes was himself embraced by his mother and every one of those bulls among men. Affectionate unto one another, they all repeatedly exclaimed, 'What joy is ours today, O, what joy!' "Then Bhima, endued with great strength and prowess, related to his brothers everything about the villany of Duryodhana, and the lucky and unlucky incidents that had befallen him in the world of the Serpents. Thereupon, Yudhish-thira wisely said, 'Brother, do thou observe silence on this. Do not speak of this to any one. From this day, protect ye all one another with care.' Thus cautioned by the righteous Yudhish-thira, they all, with Yudhish-thira himself, became very vigilant from that day. And inorder that no negligence might occur on the part of the sons of Kunti, Vidura continually offered them sage advice. "Sometime after, Duryo-dhana again mixed in the food of Bhima a poison that was fresh, virulent, and very deadly. But Yuyutsu (Dhrita-rashtra's son by a Vysya wife), moved by his friendship for the Pandavas, informed them of this. Vrikodara, however, swallowed it without any hesitation, and digested it completely. And though virulent, the poison produced no change on Bhima. "And when that terrible poison intended for the destruction of Bhima failed of effect, Duryo-dhana, Karna, and Sakuni, without giving up their wicked designs, had recourse to numerous other contrivances for accomplishing the death of the Pandavas. And though every one of these contrivances was fully known to the Pandavas, yet in accordance with the advice of Vidura they suppressed their indignation. "Meanwhile, the king (Dhrita-rashtra) beholding the Kura princes passing their time in idleness and growing naughty, appointed Gautama as their preceptor and sent them unto him for instruction. Born among a clump of heath, Gautama was well-skilled in the Vedas, and it was from him (also called Kripa) that the Kuru princes began to learn the use of arms." Thus ends the hundred and twenty-ninth Section in the Sambhava of the Adi Parva.