Week 9 Story: Under the Deep Blue Sea

     Duryodhana, born to Ghandari, grew up jealous of Bhima. He believed that Bhima was getting all the attention. Everywhere Duryodhana went it was Bhima this and Bhima that. He decided to take matters into his own hands and kill Bhima, so for once the attention would be on HIM. He put his plan into action by inviting the Pandevas to a wonderful picnic by the water. Little did the Pandevas know that Duryodhana had laced the food with a powerful poison. Bhima sat down and ate. And he ate. Eventually he fell into a deep sleep.

     Duryodhana, pleased with his success, tied ropes around Bhima's hands and feet while the other Pandeva's weren't looking. "Now we'll see who's Bhishma's favorite," he whispered quitely to his foe, who of course couldn't hear him. Without further ado, he pushed Bhima into the water to drown.

     And so Bhima sunk in the water. Down down down...

...........

Bhima fighting the Nagas

As Bhima sunk, he was attacked by venomous snakes. The venom the snakes released into his body somehow counter-acted the poison that Duryodhana had fed him, so he soon woke up.

     Blinking open his eyes, awareness of his surroundings crashed in on him like the tide and used his considerable strength to break free from the ropes that bound him. He noticed the snakes surrounding him and fought them back. Eventually he started killing these snakes and they became fearful of Bhima. They scattered, and for the first time he was able to fully take in his surroundings.

      He looked in awe as he recognized that he stood in the kingdom of the Nagas. He turned this way and that as he took in a wondrous palace made of rock from the ocean floor, bright coral decorating the outside. He beheld strange gardens full of kelp and other beautiful coral. Attached above the large doors of the grand palace was the largest seashell he'd even seen. It was like a whole other world to Bhima.

     As Bhima looked around, the King of the Nagas, Vasuki, approached him. "Welcome, Bhima," King Vasuki greeted. Bhima returned greetings.

     "I am King of the Nagas, brave one," King Vasuki said. "We appear to be related, and as my relative I wish to hold a feast for you and give you a great gift which will allow you to defeat many enemies."

     "I would be honored," Bhima replied gladly.

     For many days Bhima was provided with a grand feast, and as promised King Vasuki gave Bhima a great gift. It was a powerful point that would give Bhima the strength of a hundred elephants.

     "Go now, dear Bhima." King Vasuki said when Bhima had drank of the potion. "You have a terrible enemy who wishes to destroy you and your brothers. Go now, and vanquish him before he brings ruin to all of Hastinapura."

      And so Bhima left for the surface. Upon exiting the water, he set straight for the kingdom of Hastinapura. He reached the palace and found his brothers and the blind king Dhritarashtra. At lenght he told the story of what had happened. Duryodhana of course objected to the tale, but Bhima made clear just what he thought of Duryodhana's lies when he punched him in the face with so much force that Duryodhana was sent flying into a nearby column, still alive but with all the breath knocked out of him.

     And Duryodhana never got the throne, in fact he was sent into exile for his attempt on Bhima's life, and the Pandavas ruled peacefully for many generations.

The End

Author's Note: I was excited to write this story because I didn't write one for this part of the Mahabharata when we read it over the last few weeks. I really thought that this part of the story was very interesting and I wanted to put my own spin on it. The beginning is very similar to how it's explained in the Epified version of the tale, but I added a sinister line from Duryodhana. The ending was where I really diverted from the original tale. I didn't like that no one did anything about Duryodhana's attempt on Bhima's life, even though only a couple of people probably knew about it. I also came to despise Duryodhana's character as the story went on, so I really wanted someone to do SOMETHING. Hence Bhima's punch at the end of the story. Duryodhana never got what he wanted, and so justice prevailed. I hope you enjoyed the story!

Bibliography. "Epified Mahabharata" by Epified. Web Source.