Mahabharata – Hidimba and Hidimba – {Ep.217} – Stories From India – Podcast

Today’s story is from the Mahabharata. It’s about how the Pandavas managed in the forest after escaping assassination, and it includes their search for a 24-hour Dhaba, and their encounter with a very hungry evil Demon, Hidimba, and his not-so-evil Demoness sister, Hidimba.

Welcome to “Stories From India”. This is a podcast that will take you on a journey through the rich mythology, folklore and history of the Indian subcontinent. I am Narada Muni, the celestial storyteller and the original “time lord”. With my ability to travel through space and time, I can bring you fascinating stories from the past, the present, and the future. From the epic tales of the Mahabharata and Ramayana to the folktales of the Panchatantra to stories of Akbar-Birbal and Tenali Raman, I have a story for every occasion.

The purpose of the stories is neither to pass judgment nor to indoctrinate. My goal is only to share these stories with people who may not have heard them before and to make them more entertaining for those who have.

Today’s Story

In this episode, we’re back to the main storyline of the Mahabharata. 

You may have heard previous Mahabharata episodes on this show. But if you haven’t that’s completely fine. I’ll give you a recap of the story so far.

The Mahabharata is one of the two greatest epics from India. The other is the Ramayana, which we have also covered.

The Mahabharata started with Bhishma, the crown prince of Hastinapur who gave up all current and future claims to the throne, just to please his dad, the Emperor. That put everyone in a terrible spot, because there was a big problem finding someone capable to rule over them. 

Instead of maybe considering that this was a hint to switch away from a dynastic monarchy and towards democracy, the administrators of the Empire persisted in their mad search for a successor in the same royal bloodline. That happened across two generations, until finally in the third generation, Hastinapur ended up with the opposite problem. Now it had too many contenders to the throne. 

There were a hundred Kaurava Princes, who were all children of the current Emperor Dhritarashtra. The eldest amongst them was Duryodhan, who often acted like an entitled brat. And all that while, his parents, Dhritarashtra and Gandhari turned a blind eye. Figuratively, but also otherwise, because Dhritarashtra had been born blind, and Gandhari had blindfolded herself in solidarity. 

On the other side were the Pandavas. They were the sons of Dhritarashtra’s younger brother, Pandu. Pandu had been younger but he had been Emperor before an unfortunate accident forced him into early retirement, exile and then an early demise. Yudhishtir was the eldest Pandava and he was older than Duryodhan, which led him to believe that he ought to be the next Emperor.

No one clarified who would succeed Dhritarashtra, and that was the problem at the heart of the Mahabharata. The rivalry between the Kauravas and Pandavas only kept escalating through their childhood, through University, and then post-graduation as well. And by escalation, I really mean escalation. Where we left the story last time was that the Kauravas had setup a deadly trap for their cousins. They gifted the Pandavas a palace, but one that was very easily flammable. Thanks to a tip off from their Uncle Vidhur, the Pandavas and their mom, Kunti managed to escape through a secret tunnel.

That’s where we’ll pick up the story today, with the Pandavas emerging in a dark forest after walking through miles and miles of the tunnel.

“Mom, I’m hungry” Bhima said

Kunti’s reaction could only have been a facepalm. “We literally just ate dinner half an hour ago!” She replied. “Alright, whatever, take something out of the snack bag. At least thank heaven we have a ginormous snack bag”

“Umm…. About that….” Bhima began. “I ate it all.”

By this point, Kunti should not have been surprised. But she was. Maybe she should have brought a few cartloads of food for her. But that might have raised some alarms and made people suspicious about the fire that accidentally killed the 6 of them.

At this point, I should caution against thinking that Bhima was the Ancient Indian version of Obelix, from the Asterix and Obelix comic series. Sure, both Bhima and Obelix loved eating, they were fiercely loyal to their friends, they both got angry easily, and they both had superhuman strength, and they both got their superhuman strength from something they drank when they were children. But that’s where the comparison ends. The magic potion that Obelix drank was quite different from the Naagras that Bhima drank in the Kingdom of Snakes back in Episode 139.

Kunti shrugged off the comparison between her son and a comic character who hadn’t been created yet. They would manage, somehow. Maybe the forest they were heading into would have a Dhaba. A dhaba in case you haven’t heard the term before, is a rest stop, fueling station, restaurant and open air inn, all rolled into one. The Ancient Indian entrepreneur saw an opportunity to establish roadside diners. These Dhabas provided a much needed rest stop for weary cart drivers who represented the supply chain of the ancient world, as they transported cargo from one village to another. That being said, it took a while before the idea became really popular. Probably the development of a road network had something to do with it.

Nakul and Sahadev were not cart drivers representing the supply chain of the Ancient world. But they were weary. So if they found a Dhaba there might be a charpai, which is a woven bed, for the twins to nap on. Bhima was practically carrying Nakul and Sahadev at this point,they were on his shoulders. Bhima didn’t seem to mind. In fact, Kunti thought, there seemed to be a little space on his left shoulder for her to also sit on. Just for a short while. To rest her legs.

She didn’t feel that it was injudicious. Quite the contrary! If you have a son who can carry the weight of a thousand elephants, it would be injudicious not to let him carry his family when they were tired. It was probably good for Bhima too, because that would exercise his muscles. So, she climbed on. Bhima offered Arjun and Yudhishthir some space too, on his arms, but they refused. If someone saw them, it might be too embarrassing if they leaked it out onto Ancient Indian Social Media – #EpicFailArjun would be trending in no time.

And all in all, Kunti’s decision to sit on Bhima’s shoulder paid off for an unexpected reason. Because with the advantage of height she spotted a light in the distance.

“Our troubles might be over, boys! I think it’s a Dhaba!” she said enthusiastically.

Nakul mumbled something and went back to sleep. Sahadev moved his arm as if to snooze his bedside alarm clock. Bhima was very motivated though. “I think I can smell Chole Bhature cooking!” he almost yelped as he broke into a run. 

Yudhishthir was the only one who was maybe a bit more cautious. “Wait everyone! The light at the end of the tunnel might be that of an oncoming train”

Bhima paused and turned around to face his elder and presumably wiser brother.

“What do you mean? What is a “train”? Don’t think those have been invented yet. And besides, we’ve been out of the tunnel, we left that one long ago. We’re in the forest now”

“That’s not what I meant” Yudhishthir said “Here, I read about these anglerfish. They have a protruding fin that has this bioluminescent light that is really only there to attract other fish”

Bhima was getting exasperated. This was no time for a lecture about Fish physiology.

But it was Kunti who interrupted Yudhishthir. “We’re in the forest now, as Bhima said. I know my eyesight what it isn’t used to be, but I’m pretty sure the light that I saw was not from an angler fish”

“No no no, that’s not what I meant” Yudhishthir said. “Listen. The angler fish does that only to lure other fish that it can then eat. The light that you saw – it could be a trap, by an evil asura to eat us”

“Are Asuras tasty to eat?” Bhima asked Kunti.

They agreed to proceed with caution, and when they got near the light, Bhima glared at Yudhishthir with an I-told-you-so expression. Because the light was from a Dhaba. It said, in big bold letters “Hidimb, Hidimba Da Dhaba”.

There were no proprietors but that was okay. The food was all there, and that is what mattered.

Bhima casually tossed his sleeping twin brothers onto a couple of charpais and picked up a pot or two. Nakul and Sahadev seemed not to notice.

Arjun, Yudhisthir and Kunti had a bit to eat and promptly dozed off as well. Only Bhima was burning the midnight oil while also consuming said oil.

He didn’t really wonder where Hidimb and Hidimba were. Maybe he should have.

Because right then, Hidimb and Hidimba were in a cave, just a hundred feet away. And in a revelation that would have made Yudhishthir glare at Bhima had they witnessed it, Hidimb and Hidimba were Giant Demons.

“Looks like we have a bite!” Hidimba said, glancing at the dashboard where multiple bells were ringing. Those bells were all connected to the vessels that Bhima had just helped himself to. “Someone’s at the Dhaba. Humans I’ll bet” she added

“Must be a whole bunch of them,” her brother, Hidimba replied. “They’ve touched every single pot we had set out. You know, Hidimba? I should give you some credit. When you were telling me all that nonsense about angler fish, I was completely ignoring you. But your idea to lure humans seems like a good one after all. Now go, and bring them to me. I’m very hungry”

Hidimba did as she was told. Her brother was more powerful, and he was a bully. Especially when he was hungry. So she went. When she got near the Dhaba, she saw her prey sleeping. Well, not all of them. Bhima was still working on the Gulab Jamoons.

But she didn’t do what she normally did to Hidimb’s dinner. One glance at Bhima and she was madly in love with him. His strong muscular arms held the Jalebi bucket, and the glint in his eye as he beheld the Shrikhand – she was enchanted. The way to Hidimba’s heart was through his stomach, specifically how he reacted to her cooking. And looking at the pile of empty vessels, he had reacted perfectly. Bhima was the ideal husband for her. There was no way she was going to feed him to her brother.

Maybe his family? She approached him and asked. But first she was cautious enough to not approach in giant demoness form. She could shapeshift at will, which is a useful skill if you are a giant demoness who needs to lure hungry and helpless humans and feed them to your brother. 

She hastily warned Bhima to walk away before her Giant Demon brother got impatient and decided to come here. She could even fly him and his family to safety.

The right move for Bhima would be to wonder how this gentle petite maiden before him could fly, and how she could carry all the Pandavas. But he was awestruck.

“Let’s go, now! He already knows you’re here eating all these dishes I made”

“You made these dishes?” Bhima said in surprise. And it was clear from his tone that he thought she was a keeper.

“Yes, and I can cook you many more. But right now, we have to hurry. Let’s get out of here quickly” she said

But Bhima wasn’t worried. And that made Hidimba even more worried.

“You underestimate me,” he said calmly. “I don’t start fights, but I sure finish them”

“It won’t be a fight, it’ll be like a giant hawk swooping down on a sedated snail”

Just as she said that the Giant demon walked in. Obviously he’d gotten impatient as Hidimba had predicted, and he had come down here to investigate why it was taking so long. And he  was disappointed too, at seeing that there wasn’t a truckload of humans for him to eat. There were just 6. Maybe he should eat his sister too, given her obvious betrayal.

Bhima calmly got up from his chair. 

“There, there Hidimba, you’ll hurt your brother’s feelings if you call him a snail. Personally he looks more like a cockroach to me”

Bhima was looking to provoke the Demon, and provocation is what he got.

Hidimb was the size of a tree and his sheer weight would have crushed an ordinary human. But Bhima was no ordinary human. As the Giant lumbered towards him, Bhima casually stepped aside. Hidimba passed him, unable to stop because of his massive momentum. Bhima lashed out and punched the Demon on his side. Hidimb collapsed in agony.

Hidimba was fascinated. She had never seen her brother in pain. A few moments later she realized she had never seen her brother grabbed by the ankle and smashed into the ground repeatedly like a rag doll.

Far far away, geologists on night duty at the Hastinapur Seismological Center registered the rumblings as a possible earthquake. But they heaved a huge sigh of relief when it stopped.

Closer to the scene of the action though, the rest of the Pandavas remained sleeping, miraculously. Maybe they were all extremely tired.

Nakul and Sahadev were the first to wake up. They were stunned by what they saw. There was a new mountain next to the Dhaba. It hadn’t been there before. Only it wasn’t a mountain. It was the remains of Hidimb. At the Dhaba itself, a lovely maiden was serving breakfast, and Bhima was eating it. Bhima and the maiden smiled at each other often and seemed on extremely chummy terms.

“Mom!”, “Mom!” the twins complained, shaking Kunti awake. “Bhima’s gone and eaten all the food again”

As everyone woke up, Bhima explained the story. He glossed over the part about the Dhaba being a trap to attract unsuspecting travelers. Yudhishtir might give him an I-told-you-so glare.

It was obvious to everyone how Bhima and Hidimba felt about each other. So the two were married! And it didn’t matter that the engagement happened right there next to the pile of dirty dishes in the Dhaba, or that the wedding took place in Hidimba’s dark cave. And the thought that Hidimba was an Asura while Bhima was a human, didn’t even cross their minds. What mattered was that the two were happy!

The Pandavas lived in that forest for a bit. Bhima would spend the day with Hidimba, and the evening with his mother and brothers. Soon, a child was born. And I know that your knowledge of the normal gestation period for humans might lead you to conclude that the Pandavas lived in that forest for a long time. But not so. You see something unusual happened. Everything was sped up. So the child was born in days instead of a several months long pregnancy. And within an hour of his birth, he had grown into a giant himself. 

His head was pot shaped. And so, Bhima and Hidimba called him Ghatotkacha.

We’ve covered Ghatotkacha in Mini-Episode 43.5. Ghatotkacha would go on to play a small-ish but pretty important role later in the Mahabharata, but it’ll be a while before we get to that part of the storyline.

The Pandavas do move on and have other adventures, but we’ll end it here this time.

Some notes on the show

Hidimba is also called Hidimbi in some cases. Makes for an easier distinction from her brother’s name. I bet their childhood would have been more than a little confusing given both of their names were so similar.

Check out the links to previous Mahabharata episodes.

That’s all for now. 

Next Time

In the next episode, we’ll learn some wisdom from the Panchatantra

Feedback

Thank you all for the comments on Social Media and on Spotify’s Q&A! I can’t directly reply to the questions there, but I’ll address them here on this show.

Hiranmayee, Vaishnavi, Vishruth and Darsh – thank you so much for the feedback!

Darsh – thank you for the wishes – it’s support from all of you listeners that has made it possible for this to be the number 1 Indian Mythology podcast, according to FeedSpot’s rankings.

Vaishnavi – it’s a good point regarding the last episode. I did ask Vishnu why he chose those specific conditions. But Vishnu just laughed it off, and only told me that it should be obvious to me. But I confess I didn’t have the faintest idea why, and frankly I was a little embarrassed to ask. My best guess is that maybe Vishnu knew exactly what was going to happen, and this three year investment was a way to turn around the fortunes of the poor farmer’s family. Only he could have used a less roundabout way. Anyway, after what he put me through in his demonstration of Maya back in Episode 0, my guess might not be all that unreasonable.

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