Vaisampayana continued, “And the powerful Bhimasena, having thus come
under the power of the snake, thought of its mighty and wonderful
prowess; and said unto it, ‘Be thou pleased to tell me, O snake, who thou
art. And, O foremost of reptiles, what wilt thou do with me? I am
Bhimasena, the son of Pandu, and next by birth to Yudhishthira the just.
And endued as I am with the strength of ten thousand elephants, how hast
thou been able to overpower me? In fight have been encountered and slain
by me innumerable lions, and tigers, and buffaloes, and elephants. And, O
best of serpents, mighty Rakshasas and Pisachas, and Nagas, are unable to
stand the force of my arms. Art thou possessed of any magic, or hast thou
received any boon, that although exerting myself, I have been overcome by
thee? Now I have been convinced that the strength of men is false, for, O
serpent, by thee hath such mighty strength of men been baffled.’
Vaisampayana continued, “When the heroic Bhima of noble deed had said
this, the snake caught him, and coiled him all round with his body,
having thus subdued that mighty-aimed one, and freed his plump arms
alone, the serpent spake these words, ‘By good fortune it is that, myself
being hungry, after long time the gods have to-day destined thee for my
food; for life is dear unto every embodied being, I should relate unto
thee the way in which I have come by this snake form. Hear, O best of the
pious, I have fallen into this plight on account of the wrath of the
Maharhis. Now desirous of getting rid of the curse, I will narrate unto
thee all about it. Thou hast, no doubt, heard of the royal sage, Nahusha.
He was the son of Ayu, and the perpetuator of the line of thy ancestors.
Even I am that one. For having affronted the Brahmanas I, by (virtue of)
Agastya’s malediction, have come by this condition. Thou art my agnate,
and lovely to behold,--so thou shouldst not be slain by me,--yet I shall
to-day devour thee! Do thou behold the dispensation of Destiny! And be it
a buffalo, or an elephant, none coming within my reach at the sixth
division of the day, can, O best of men, escape. And, O best of the
Kurus, thou hast not been taken by an animal of the lower order, having
strength alone,--but this (hath been so) by reason only of the boon I
have received. As I was falling rapidly from Sakra’s throne placed on the
front of his palace, I spake unto that worshipful sage (Agastya), ‘Do
thou free me from this curse.’ Thereat filled with compassion, that
energetic one said unto me, ‘O king, thou shall be freed after the lapse
of some time.’ Then I fell to the earth (as a snake); but my recollection
(of former life) did not renounce me. And although it be so ancient, I
still recollect all that was said. And the sage said unto me, That person
who conversant with the relation subsisting between the soul and the
Supreme Being, shall be able to answer the questions put by thee, shall
deliver thee. And, O king, taken by thee, strong beings superior to thee,
shall immediately lose their strength, I heard these words of those
compassionate ones, who felt attached unto me. And then the Brahmanas
vanished. Thus, O highly effulgent one, having become a serpent, I, doing
exceedingly sinful acts, live in unclean hell, in expectation of the
(appointed) time.’ The mighty-armed Bhimasena addressed the serpent,
saying, ‘I am not angry, O mighty snake,--nor do I blame myself. Since in
regard to happiness and misery, men sometimes possess the power of
bringing and dismissing them, and sometimes do not. Therefore one should
not fret one’s mind. Who can baffle destiny by self-exertion? I deem
destiny to be supreme, and self-exertion to be of no avail. Smitten with
the stroke of destiny, the prowess of my arms lost, behold me to-day
fallen unto this condition without palpable cause. But to-day I do not so
much grieve for my own self being slain, as I do for my brothers deprived
of their kingdom, and exiled into the forest. This Himalaya is
inaccessible, and abounds with Yakshas and the Rakshasas, And searching
about for me, they will be distracted. And hearing that I have been
killed, (my brothers) will forego all exertion, for, firm in promise,
they have hitherto been controlled by my harsh speech, I being desirous
of gaining the kingdom. Or the intelligent Arjuna (alone), being versed
in every lore, and incapable of being overcome by gods and Rakshasas and
Gandharvas, will not be afflicted with grief. That mighty-armed and
exceedingly powerful one is able single-handed to speedily pull down from
his place even the celestials. What shall I say of the deceitfully
gambling son of Dhritarashtra, detested of all men, and filled with
haughtiness and ignorance! And I also grieve for my poor mother,
affectionate to her sons, who is ever solicitous for our greatness in a
large measure than is attained by our enemies. O serpent, the desire that
forlorn one had in me will all be fruitless in consequence of my
destruction. And gifted with manliness, the twins, Nakula and Sahadeva,
following their elder brother (me), and always protected by the strength
of my arms, will, owing to my destruction, be depressed and deprived of
their prowess, and stricken with grief. This is what I think.’ In this
way Vrikodara lamented profusely. And being bound by the body of the
snake, he could not exert himself.
“On the other hand, Kunti’s son, Yudhishthira, (seeing) and reflecting on
dreadful ill omens, became alarmed. Terrified by the blaze of the points
of the horizon, jackals stationing themselves on the right of that
hermitage, set up frightful and inauspicious yells. And ugly Vartikas as
of dreadful sight, having one wing, one eye, and one leg, were seen to
vomit blood, facing the sun. And the wind began to blow dryly, and
violently, attracting grits. And to the right all the beasts and birds
began to cry. And in the rear the black crows cried, ‘Go!’ ‘Go!’ And
momentarily his (Yudhishthira’s) right arm began to twitch, and his chest
and left leg shook (of themselves). And indicating evil his left eye
contracted spasmodically. Thereupon, O Bharata, the intelligent
Yudhishthira the just, inferring some great calamity (to be imminent),
asked Draupadi, saying, ‘Where is Bhima?’ Thereat Panchali said that
Vrikodara had long gone out. Hearing this, that mighty-armed king set out
with Dhaumya, after having said unto Dhananjaya, “Thou shouldst protect
Draupadi.’ And he also directed Nakula and Sahadeva to protect the
Brahmanas. And issuing from the hermitage that lord, Kunti’s son,
following the footprints of Bhimasena, began to search for him in that
mighty forest. And on coming to the east, he found mighty leaders of
elephant-herds (slain) and saw the earth marked with Bhima’s
(foot-prints). Then seeing thousands of deer and hundreds of lions lying
in the forest, the king ascertained his course. And on the way were
scattered trees pulled down by the wind caused by the thighs of that hero
endued with the speed of the wind as he rushed after the deer. And
proceeding, guided by those marks, to a spot filled with dry winds and
abounding in leafless vegetables, brackish and devoid of water, covered
with thorny plants and scattered over with gravel, stumps and shrubs and
difficult of access and uneven and dangerous, he saw in a mountain cavern
his younger brother motionless, caught in the folds of that foremost of
snakes.”