Bhīmaśaṅkara: The King Who Would Not Let Go

Śiva in Kāmarūpa

Sūta now turns to the glory of Bhīmaśaṅkara, and says that merely hearing it brings a person whatever they long for.

In the land called Kāmarūpa, he says, Śiva — the very home of welfare and happiness — once appeared in person for the good of the world. Listen with care, he tells the sages, to why the Lord who does good to all took form there.

The son of Kumbhakarṇa

Long ago there lived a rākṣasa named Bhīma, enormously strong, who tormented every living creature and destroyed dharma wherever he went. He was the son of Kumbhakarṇa by a rākṣasī named Karkaṭī, and he lived with his mother on the Sahya mountain.

After Rāma killed Kumbhakarṇa, the terror of the world, Karkaṭī stayed on alone on the Sahya mountain with her son. One day, while Bhīma was still a boy, he asked her: Mother, who is my father? Where does he live? And why do you live here all by yourself? Tell me everything, exactly as it is.

Karkaṭī's story

So the rākṣasī told him. Your father was the mighty Kumbhakarṇa, younger brother of Rāvaṇa, she said, and Rāma killed him along with Rāvaṇa. Some time ago that powerful rākṣasa came here and took me by force; then he left me here and went back to Laṅkā. I have never seen Laṅkā, so I stayed where I was.

My own father was Karkaṭa and my mother was Puṣkasī. My husband was Virādha, and Rāma killed him long before. When my husband died I came to live here with my parents. But they went to eat the sage Sutīkṣṇa, the great ascetic and disciple of Agastya, and in his anger he burned them both to ashes.

So I lived on this mountain alone and grieving, with no one to help me and nowhere to turn. That was when Kumbhakarṇa came and lay with me, and then left. You were born after that, strong and brave, and now I pass my days leaning on you.

Bhīma's vow and his tapas

Hearing this, Bhīma flared up in anger. What shall I do to Hari? he thought. This Rāma killed my father and my mother's father, and Virādha too — he has caused us endless grief. If I really am Kumbhakarṇa's son, I will make Hari suffer. With that resolve he set out to perform great tapas.

Fixing his mind on Brahmā, he practised fierce austerity for a thousand years, standing on one foot with both arms raised and his eyes on the sun. From his head rose a terrible blaze of energy, and the gods, scorched by it, ran to Brahmā for shelter.

Indra and the gods bowed to Brahmā and praised him with many hymns, and then poured out their trouble. That rākṣasa's fire is ready to burn up every world, they said. Give the wicked one whatever he asks — otherwise his fierce heat will consume us all today. Please, grant his request.

The boon of unmatched strength

So Brahmā, grandfather of the worlds, went to him. I am pleased, he said; ask for whatever is in your heart. Lord of the gods, lotus-seated one, said Bhīma, if you are pleased and want to give me a boon, give me strength that has no equal.

He bowed, and Brahmā granted it and went back to his own realm. Swollen with pride, Bhīma hurried home, bowed to his mother and said: Now watch my strength, mother. I will utterly destroy Indra and all the gods, and Viṣṇu with his helpers too.

And he did as he said. First he conquered Indra and the gods and threw them out of their places. When the gods called on Viṣṇu for help, Bhīma defeated him as well. Then, well pleased with himself, he set out to conquer the earth.

The king of Kāmarūpa in chains

His first target was Sudakṣiṇa, lord of Kāmarūpa — a great warrior and a devotee of Śiva. A fearful battle followed, but by the power of Brahmā's boon the asura defeated him.

Bhīma bound the conquered king and tormented him. He seized his kingdom, his treasures and everything he had; then he put the righteous, Śiva-loving king in fetters and shut him away in a lonely place.

There, seeking his own good, the king shaped a fine earthen (pārthiva) liṅga and began to worship Śiva. He sang many praises of Gaṅgā; he performed his bath and the other rites in his mind; and then he worshipped Śiva by the pārthiva method. He meditated in the way the rules prescribe, and with prostrations, hymns, mudrās and the proper posture he served the Lord joyfully, doing everything in its order.

He kept repeating the five-syllable mantra together with Oṃ, and had no time left for anything else. His faithful wife Dakṣiṇā, whom he loved dearly, also performed the pārthiva worship lovingly and by the rules. So husband and wife together, wholly given to Śiva, served the Lord who looks after his devotees.

The gods go to Śiva

Meanwhile the demon, drunk on his boon, put an end to sacrifices and every rite of dharma, and spread the word: Offer everything to me. With a huge army of wicked rākṣasas he brought the whole earth under his rule. He wiped out the dharma of the Vedas, the śāstras, the smṛtis and the Purāṇas, and enjoyed everything himself. He harassed Indra, the gods and the sages, and drove them out of their homes in misery.

In their distress the gods and sages, with Brahmā and Viṣṇu at their head, went to Śiva for refuge. On the lovely bank of the Mahākośī river they praised him with many hymns, made an earthen image and worshipped it by the rules, and pleased him with praise and salutations one after another.

Śiva was delighted. Viṣṇu, Brahmā, all you gods and sages, he said — I am pleased. Ask for a boon. What can I do for you?

The gods joined their palms, bowed and said: Lord of the gods, you dwell within every heart and know everything; nothing is hidden from you. Still, at your bidding, we will tell you our grief — look on us with kindness. Bhīma, the strong son of Karkaṭī by Kumbhakarṇa, maddened by Brahmā's boon, gives the gods no rest. Great Lord, kill this tormenting rākṣasa. Have mercy, and do not delay.

Śiva's message to the king

Śiva, who loves his devotees, promised: I will kill him. Then he gave them a message to carry. The king of Kāmarūpa is a true devotee of mine, he said. Tell him this, and the work will be done quickly.

Say to him: Sudakṣiṇa, great king, lord of Kāmarūpa — you are especially my devotee. Keep worshipping me with love. I will kill that wicked rākṣasa Bhīma, who is strong with Brahmā's boon and has humiliated you. Of this there is no doubt.

Overjoyed, the gods went to the king and told him all that Śiva had said. Then the gods and the great sages, full of happiness, went back to their own hermitages.

The demon's question

Śiva too came there with his gaṇas, out of care for the king, and stood hidden nearby to protect him. Just then the lord of Kāmarūpa sat down before his earthen liṅga and sank into deep meditation.

Someone went and told the rākṣasa that the king was performing some black rite (abhicāra) against him. Furious, Bhīma took up his sword and went to kill him. When he saw the earthen liṅga and the things laid out around it, he made up his mind: This man is working some spell against me. Today I will kill him, and smash all his gear with him.

What are you doing, you wicked king? he roared. Tell me the truth and I will not kill you; otherwise you will surely die.

The king, whose trust was in Śiva, thought quickly to himself. What must happen will happen; no one can turn it aside. Everything here depends on what is destined, and it is Śiva himself who is called destiny. The merciful Lord is surely present in this earthen liṅga too. Will he do nothing for me? What is this rākṣasa before him? He will keep his promise, for the Veda calls him true to his word. He himself has said: when someone cruelly torments my devotee, I kill that wicked one to protect him.

Steadying himself and holding Śiva in his mind, the king prayed inwardly with deep devotion: Great Lord, I am yours. Do as you wish. I tell you truly — do what is good for me.

Then, bound by his vow of truth, he answered the rākṣasa with scorn: I am worshipping Śiva — the protector of his devotees, the master of all that moves and does not move, the Lord who never changes.

“I will never give him up”

Bhīma shook with rage. I know your Śaṅkara, he said. What can he do to me? My father's brother Rāvaṇa kept him like a servant. You want to beat me by leaning on his strength? Then you have already won everything — no doubt of it! Go on serving him as your master only until he shows himself before me; after that you never will. Once I set eyes on him, everything will be clear. So put this form of Śiva away — or today you will certainly know fear. I am terrible in battle; I will give your master a sharp slap.

Firm in his faith, the king answered at once: Rākṣasa, whatever I am, low or wicked, I will never give up Śiva. And my Lord is the highest of all; he will never give me up.

Bhīma laughed. He wanders about crazed, begging every day, he jeered; he does not even know what he is. What loyalty can such yogīs have when it comes to protecting their devotees? Think about it, and keep well away from him. Your master and I will fight it out.

The king, steadfast in his vows, answered without fear: Listen, wicked rākṣasa — I will never do that. And where did you get the power for these evil deeds of yours?

Śiva comes out of the liṅga

At that, Bhīma, who had come with his army, threatened the king and brought his dreadful sword down on the earthen liṅga, laughing with his rākṣasas: Now see the strength of your master who makes his devotees so happy!

But before the blade could even touch the earthen liṅga, Śiva himself came out of it. Bhīma, look, he said — I am the Lord, and I have appeared to protect him. It has always been my vow to protect my devotees. Now see my strength, which brings joy to my devotees. And with his bow Pināka he cut the rākṣasa's sword in two.

The rākṣasa hurled his trident; Śiva shattered it into hundreds of pieces. He struck at Śiva with his śakti spear; Śiva's arrows cut it into hundreds of thousands. He attacked with a paṭṭiśa blade; Śiva's trident chopped it as small as sesame seeds.

Then a fearful battle broke out between Śiva's gaṇas and the rākṣasas, terrifying to all who watched. In a moment the whole earth was in turmoil, and the oceans and mountains were shaken. The gods and sages were thrown into panic and said to one another: We were wrong to ask Śiva for help.

The fire of the hum

At that moment Nārada came, joined his palms, bowed his head and prayed to Śiva, who ends all sorrow: Lord, you who bewilder the world, forgive me — but is an axe needed to cut a blade of grass? Kill him quickly.

Then the Lord, with the weapon of his humkāra — a single fierce sound — burned all the rākṣasas to ash. While all the gods looked on, the whole demon army was consumed in an instant, as a forest fire burns up a forest.

No one could even tell which ash was Bhīma's. He was burned with all his kin, and his name was never heard anywhere again. By Śiva's grace the sages and Indra and all the gods found peace, and the whole world was well again.

The flame of the Great Lord's anger spread from forest to forest, and the ash of the rākṣasas was scattered through the woods everywhere. From it grew herbs of many powers — herbs, the Purāṇa says, by which people's form and appearance can be changed, which drive away ghosts, pretas and piśācas, and with which there is nothing in the world that cannot be done.

Bhīmaśaṅkara

Then the gods and sages earnestly begged Śiva: Lord, stay here now, for the happiness of the world. This is a harsh land that brings suffering to the weak and the powerless; seeing you, they will be blessed. You will be known as Bhīmaśaṅkara and you will bring everything to fulfilment. This liṅga, which removes every misfortune, will be worshipped forever.

And Śiva — free, devoted to the good of the world, loving to his devotees — lovingly agreed, and stayed there.