M129 - Duryodhana Plans to Kill Bhima

Whenever Bhima was engaged in playing with the sons of Dhritarastra, his strength became apparent. Bhima proved superior in speed, striking objects, consuming food and scattering dust. Bhima would seize them by the hair, throw them down, and drag them along the ground. In his playful mood, Bhima would accidentally break their knees and shoulders. When the sons of Dhritarastra would climb a tree to gather fruits, Bhima would shake the tree until the fruits as well as Kauravas fell to the ground. He would play with them in childishness, but would never hurt them out of envy.

It was obvious that Bhima could challenge all the one-hundred sons of Dhritarastra single-handedly, Duryodhana began to make deceitful plans to harm him. He thought, There is no person who can compare with Bhima's strength. He does not think twice of challenging my one-hundred brothers to combat and exterminate him.

Duryodhana selected a beautiful place called Pramanakoti on the banks of the Ganga and  built a palace for sporting in the water, The palace was named  'The Water Sport House.' Skilled cooks were engaged to prepare delicious food and facilities for a variety of entertainments were created. When the palace was ready for use, Duryodhana invited the Pandavas to visit the palace and sport at the spot. Not understanding Duryodhana's evil intentions, the Pandavas accompanied Dhritarastra's sons to the banks of the Ganges and inspected the newly constructed palace by the river.

The Pandavas were impressed by the elegance of the palace and the facilities provided there. Sitting down with the Kauravas, they began to enjoy the things provided for them. They became engaged in, play and exchanged morsels of food with one another. Meanwhile the wicked Duryodhana had mixed poison with a particular item of food and in a friendly way fed Bhima  with that poisoned food. After they had had their food, the sons of Dhritarashtra and Pandu together began to sport.
After playing for sometime, the princes retired to the palace. Bhima on whom the poison had begun to act felt fatigued and lay down on the ground. Duryodhana and some of his brothers , who were waiting for this moment,  tied him with chords and threw him into the river. Bhima sank down the river and reached the Naga kingdom. The snakes inhabiting the Naga kingdom which had fangs filled with virulent venom, bit him by thousands. The poison from the food fed to him by Duryodhana which had entered Bhima's blood was neutralised by the snake-poison.

On regaining consciousness, Bhima broke his ropes and began killing the snakes that were biting him. The rest of the snakes fled and went to their King Vasuki, telling him the events that had taken place. Vasuki happened to be related to Bhima through the wind god Vayu, and upon hearing that Bhima was present, he went to the spot and embraced him. Vasuki, wanting to protect him from future attacks, offered him eight bowls of nectar which empowered a person with the strength of ten thousand elephants. Bhima drank one bowl in one breath, and after drinking all eight, he lay down to relax on a bed prepared by the serpents.

After Yudhisthira, Arjuna, Nakula, Sahadeva and Dhritarastra's sons were satiated in their swimming play, they set out for Hastinapura anticipating that Bhima had already left. The wicked Duryodhana was elated thinking that Bhima was dead, and he appeared very happy on the way back to Hastinapura. Yudhisthira, who was unacquainted with vice and wickedness, thought nothing of the matter. Upon entering the palace chambers of his mother, he inquired her about Bhima. As he couldn't find him anywhere. While swimming in the Ganges, he became tired and slept on the shore. After finishing our water sports, he had disappeared.

Kunti became alarmed when she heard that Bhima was missing and advised her sons to look for Bhima. After dismissing her sons, Kunti summoned Vidura and anxiously spoke to him sharing her suspicion that he might have been harmed by Duryodhana. Vidhura advised her not to accuse Duryodhana lest he should harm her other sons too! He consoled her saying that Vyasa had told him that all the Pandavas would have a long life.

It was only after seven days that Bhima woke up from his slumber. He felt refreshed after the sleep. He also realized that he felt very strong as a result of the nectar he had ingested. Seeing him awake, the Nagas cheered him saying, "Oh man of mighty arms, you have now acquired the might of a thousand elephants. Now, no one can vanquish you in a fight. Take bath in this holy water and return home. Your brothers and your mother may be worried about you."

Accordingly, Bhima took bath in that holy water wore the new clothes and flowers offered by the Nagas, ate the food offered by them and took leave of them. The Nagas lifted Bhima above the surface of the water and placed him in the garden where he had been sporting earlier.

Bhima rushed to Hastinapura and presented himself to his mother and brothers. All of them embraced him expressing their joy and relief. Bhima narrated to them the things that had happened to him. After listening to Bhima's story, Yudhishtira said, "Let us not talk about this to anyone. From now onwards, we should carefully protect one another."

Though shocked by Bhima's return, Duryodhana, in pursuit of his obsession, made another attempt on Bhima's life, by poisoning Bhima's food once again. However, Yuyutsu (Dhritarashtra's son by a Vaisya wife), a man of virtues, informed the Pandavas of this. Bhima consumed the poisoned food but the poison had no effect on him, his body having been conditioned by the nectar given by the Nagas.

Duryodhana was puzzled by the fact that the poison did not act on Bhima. He consulted his uncle Sakuni and friend Karna and tried several other ways to kill Bhima. However, all his attempts turned futile. Though all these designs were known to the Pandavas, they kept quiet in keeping with the advice given to them by Vidhura.