SECTION 164
(Baka-vadha Parva continued)
"Vaisampayana said, 'After Bhima had pledged himself to
accomplish the task, saying, 'I will do it,' the Pandavas, returned home with the
alms they had obtained during the day. Then Yudhishthira, from Bhima's
countenance alone, suspected the nature of the task he had undertaken to
accomplish. Sitting by the side of his mother,Yudhishthira asked her in
private, 'What is the task, O mother, that Bhima of terrible prowess seeketh to
accomplish? Doth he do so at thy command or of his own accord?' Kunti replied,
'Bhima, will at my command, do this great deed for the good of the Brahmana and
the liberation of this town.'
"Yudhishthira said, 'What rash act hast thou done, O mother!
It is difficult of being performed and almost amounteth to suicide! The learned
never applaud the abandonment of one's own child. Why dost thou, O mother, wish
to sacrifice thy own child for the sake of another's? Thou hast, O mother, by
this abandonment of thy child, acted not only against the course of human
practices but also against the teachings of the Vedas, That Bhima, relying on
whose arms we sleep happily in the night and hope to recover the kingdom of
which we have been deprived by the son of Dhritarashtra, that hero of
immeasurable energy, remembering whose prowess Duryodhana and Sakuni do not
sleep a wink during the whole night and by whose prowess we were rescued from
the palace of lac and various other dangers, that Bhima who caused the death of
Purochana, and relying on whose might we regard ourselves as having already
slain the sons of Dhritarashtra and acquired the whole earth with all her
wealth, upon what considerations, O mother, hast thou resolved upon abandoning
him? Hast thou been deprived of thy reason? Hath thy understanding been clouded
by the calamities thou hast undergone?'
"On hearing these words of her son, Kunti said, 'O
Yudhishthira, thou needst not be at all anxious on account of Vrikodara. I have
not come to this resolve owing to any weakness of understanding. Respected by
him, and with our sorrows assuaged, we have, O son, been living in the house of
this Brahmana, unknown to the sons of Dhritarashtra. For requiting, O son, that
Brahmana, I have resolved to do this. He, indeed, is a man upon whom good
offices are never lost. The measure of his requital becometh greater than the
measure of the services he receiveth. Beholding the prowess of Bhima on the
occasion of (our escape from) the house of lac, and from the destruction also
of Hidimba, my confidence in Vrikodara is great. The might of Bhima's arms is
equal unto that of ten thousand elephants. It was, therefore, that he succeeded
in carrying you all, each heavy as an elephant, from Varanavata. There is no
one on earth equal unto Bhima in might; he may even overcome that foremost of
warriors, the holder of the thunderbolt himself. Soon after his birth he fell
from my lap on the breast of the mountain. By the weight of his body the mass
of stone on which he fell down broke in pieces. From this also, I have come to
know Bhima's might. For this reason have I resolved to set him against the
Brahmana's foe. I have not acted in this from foolishness or ignorance or from
motive of gain. I have deliberately resolved to do this virtuous deed. By this
act, O Yudhishthira, two objects will be accomplished; one is a requital of the
services rendered by the Brahmana and the other is the acquisition of high
religious merit. It is my conviction that the Kshatriya who rendereth help unto
a Brahmana in anything acquireth regions of bliss hereafter. So also a
Kshatriya who saveth the life of a Kshatriya achieveth that great fame in this
world as in the other. A Kshatriya rendering help unto a Vaisya also on this
earth certainly acquires world-wide popularity. One of the kingly tribe should protect
even the Sudra who cometh to him for protection. If he doeth so, in his next
life he receiveth his birth in a royal line, commanding prosperity and the
respect of other kings. O, the illustrious Vyasa of wisdom acquired by hard
ascetic toil told me so in bygone days. It is therefore, that I have resolved
upon accomplishing this.'"
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