Karna, My Son: Chapter 15

Our marathon walk hadn’t yet ended. We were fleeing from place to place.

I felt exhausted. My aching legs begged to be rested. As I slipped into a deep slumber under a sprawling banyan tree, I noticed the boys sinking into comfortable positions on the ground, oblivious of the crawling ants and stinging bees. Hissing snakes too, perhaps? But my head was too foggy to consider their threat. I knew Bheema wouldn’t sleep, but take care of all of us. He would stay awake to keep an eye on wild animals that may appear suddenly.

Of course, an immediate threat came soon, not from wild animals though, but from a demoniacal man, a Rakshasa1, who had decided on our being there on his lunch menu. This rakshasa called Hidimba had been sitting on a sala tree a few feet away, smelling us greedily. He asked his younger sister Hidimbi to fetch us quickly for his rumbling stomach. As Hidimba came nearer, she fell in love with the bronzed and handsomely sculpted body of Bheema, and immediately decided that he was a better choice as her husband than as a delicious dish for her brother. She changed into a beautiful maiden, discarding her normal hideous look and appeared before Bheema.

“Oh, Lord! Are you a Gandharva2? Who are these handsome people sleeping on the rough ground? Don’t you know there are rakshasas who can devour you?” she asked.

Bheema roared with laughter. “Oh, beautiful maiden! Don’t you worry about us. Courting dangers is our hobby. This beautiful lady lying on my lap is our mother, and these are my brothers. But who are you?”

Hidimbi introduced herself briefly. Her eyes darted like those of a frightened doe. “Look here, young man. Cupid’s shafts have pierced my heart. I am madly in love with you and I want to marry you. My brother will come here anytime now, and he is a cannibal. Make haste and wake up every one. I can take all of you to a safe place.”

Bheema was amused; nevertheless, he spoke seriously. “My mother and brothers are exhausted and I don’t want to wake them up. Fear not. Look at my strong arms and thighs. Don’t they look like an elephant’s limbs? Your brother is no match for me.”

Hidimbi spied her brother approaching them. She panicked. “I can carry your mother and brothers as well. Please don’t take my warning lightly.”