Yudhishthira said to Kuntidevi “Maata! why are you doing such a Saahasam? Why are you doing Putra-tyaagam? Believing in whose Baahu-balam we are living happily, believing in whose balam we are hoping that we will get our Raajyam back, fearing whose Veeryam Duryodhana aadi Kauravas dont get sleep, depending on whose Veeratvam we all saved our lives in the laakshaa-gruham (wax-house), whose greatness put an end to Purochana — why are you doing Tyaagam of such a Bhiimasena?”
Kuntidevi replied “we are now living under the aashrayam of this Viprotaama. It is our minimum duty to show Krutagnyata and do Pratyupakaaram to him. Even otherwise, since we are Kshatriyas (one who saves from Kshatam or difficulties), we must protect the people who need help. Hence we must protect this Braahmana. We need not worry about Bhiimasena; he will surely come back safely — we saw his ananta-balam when he killed Hidimbaasura. He carried all of us in Vaaranaavatam and saved us from the fire. He even has the strength of doing Yuddham with Devendra! On the very day he was born, when I dropped him by mistake, he was unaffected whereas the stone on which he fell broke into pieces! Thinking of all these things I have sent Bhiimasena to kill Bakaasura and save the villagers. Vyaasa Bhagavaan told us to what uttama-lokas a person whose does Paropakaaram will reach”.
Yudhidhthira was happy listening to these amruta-vaakyas of Kuntidevi and with full-heart did aashiirvachanam to Bhiimasena. As planned, Bhiimasena reached the nivaasam of the raakshsa, along with the cart full of aahaaram. He shouted for the raakshasa and he himself started eating the food in the cart. Seeing that the food which was brought for him, was being eaten away by Bhiimasena, the raakshasa started stamping his foot onto the ground with great strength. Bhiimasena didnt respond. Seeing this, the raakshasa gave a mushti-ghaatam (strong punch) on Bhiima’s back. Bhiimasena didnt feel anything and continued to eat. With anger, the raakshasa tried to uproot a mahaa-vruksham and throw it on Bhiimasena. Meanwhile, Bhiimasena completed his Bhojanam, did aachamanam, shuddhi of his hands and legs (see this too) and got ready for the Yuddham.
Bhiimasena threw back the Vruksham. For sometime they did Yuddham with Vrukshams. Then raakshasa caught Bhiimasena binding him, Bhiimasena also did the same. Both were squeezing each other. Finally the raakshasa became tired. Then, supporting with legs, Bhiimasena gave a strong mushti-ghaaatam on Bakasura’s back.
Crying for help, bleeding, the raakshasa died. Hearing this aarta-naadam, the relatives of the raakshasa came out. Bhiimasena said “if you all do pratignya and leave Maanava-aahaaram, I will spare you; else you will get the same fate as Bakaasura”. Immediately everyone did Pratignya. The villagers happy to see the end of the Bakaasura.
Morals in the story:
- The Dharma-bodha of Kuntidevi shows us the importance of Krutagnyata and parokaaram.
- How a sajjana uses his Balam, Dhairyam and helps the society is well shown in the story. On the other hand, Kauravas spent all their strength in destroying Paandavas, due to their Iirsha, Asuuya and Maatsaryam.
Search Terms: Bhima, Bheema, Kunthi, Dharmaraja, Bakasura
Moral Stories 
Very Nice. Will be very good and instructive for All ages of readers. Can you also include the glories of chanting the mahamantra “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare”, in other words god’s holy names. There are innumerable stories which depict the greatness of yuga dharma – chanting of the holy name of the lord.
yasyasti bhaktir
bhagavaty akincana
sarvair gunais tatra samasate surah
harav abhaktasya kuto mahad-guna
mano-rathenasati dhavato bahih
“”One who has unflinching devotion for the Personality of Godhead has all the good qualities of the demigods. But one who is not a devotee of the Lord has only material qualifications that are of little value. This is because he is hovering on the mental plane and is certain to be attracted by the glaring material energy.”” (Bhag. 5.18.12)
All the qualities depicted here can be cultivated in a person automatically by engaging him in the service of the Lord.
One of the incidents can be found here. This is taken from Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s instruction to Srila Sanatana Goswami. Mahaprabhu is Lord Krishna Himself. This is about the hunter whose life got completely transformed due to the transcendental association with Narada Muni and him accepting the chanting of the holy name of the Lord under the guidance of the great Spiritual Master Sri Narada.
Dhruva Maharaja said:
sthanabhilasi tapasi sthito ‘ham
tvam praptavan deva-munindra-guhyam
kacam vicinvann api divya-ratnam
svamin kritartho ‘smi varam na yace
“My dear Lord, I came to worship You because I desired some land on this earth, but fortunately I have attained You, who are beyond even the perception of great sages and saintly persons. I came to search out some particles of colored glass, but instead I found a very valuable gem like You. I am satisfied, and I do not desire to ask anything of You.”
There is also another meaning to the word nirgrantha. The word can also mean “foolish hunter,” or “wretched poor man.” There is one instance of a hunter who attained salvation and engaged himself in the devotional service of the Lord simply by associating with the pure devotee Narada. Indeed, Lord Caitanya told Sanatana Gosvami the following story of the hunter’s meeting with Narada.
Once there was a hunter in the forest of Prayaga who was fortunate enough to meet Narada Muni when the great sage was returning from Vaikuntha after visiting Lord Narayana. Narada came to Prayaga to bathe in the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna. While passing through the forest, Narada saw a bird lying on the ground. The bird was half-killed, being pierced by an arrow, and it was chirping pitifully. Further on, Narada saw a deer flopping about in agony. Further, he saw that a boar was also suffering, and, in another place, he saw a rabbit twitching in pain. All this made him very compassionate, and he began to think, “Who is the foolish man who has committed such sins?” Devotees of the Lord are generally compassionate upon the miseries of living entities, and what to speak of the great sage Narada? He became very much aggrieved by this scene, and after proceeding a few steps, he saw the hunter engaged in hunting with bow and arrows. The hunter’s complexion was very dark, and his eyes were red. It appeared to be dangerous just to see him standing there with his bow and arrows, looking just like an associate of Yamaraja, death. Seeing him, Narada Muni entered deeper into the forest to approach him. As Narada Muni passed through the forest, all the animals who were caught in the hunter’s traps fled away. The hunter became very angry at this, and he was just about to call Narada vile names, but, due to the influence of saintly Narada, the hunter could not utter such blasphemies. Rather, with gentle behavior, he asked Narada: “My dear sir, why have you come here while I am hunting? Have you strayed from the general path? Because you have come here, all the animals in my traps have fled.”
“Yes, I am sorry,” Narada replied. “I have come to you to find my own path and to inquire from you. I have seen that there are many boars, deer and rabbits on the path. They are lying on the forest floor half-dead and flopping about. Who has committed these sinful acts?”
“What you have seen is all right,” the hunter replied. “It was done by me.”
“If you are hunting all these poor animals, why don’t you kill them at once?” Narada asked. “You half-kill them, and they are suffering in their death pangs. This is a great sin. If you want to kill an animal, why don’t you kill it completely? Why do you leave it half-killed and allow it to die flopping around?”
“My dear Lord,” the hunter replied. “My name is Mrigari, enemy of animals. I am simply following the teachings of my father who taught me to half-kill animals and leave them flopping about. When a half-dead animals suffers, I take great pleasure in it.”
“I beg one thing from you only,” Narada implored. “Please accept it.”
“Oh, yes sir, I shall give you whatever you like,” the hunter said. “If you want some animal skins, come to my house. I have many skins of animals, including tigers and deer. I shall give you whatever you like.”
“I do not want such things,” Narada replied. “However, I do want something else. If you kindly grant it to me, I shall tell you. Please, henceforth from tomorrow, whenever you kill an animal, please kill it completely. Don’t leave it half-dead.”
“My dear sir, what are you asking of me? What is the difference between half-killing an animal and killing it completely?”
“If you half-kill the animals, they suffer great pain,” Narada explained. “And if you give too much pain to other living entities, you commit great sin. There is a great offense committed when you kill an animal completely, but the offense is much greater when you half-kill it. Indeed, the pain which you give half-dead animals will have to be accepted by you in a future birth.”
Although the hunter was very sinful, his heart became softened, and he became afraid of his sins by virtue of his association with a great devotee like Narada. Those who are grossly sinful are not at all afraid of committing sins, but here we can see that because his purification began in the association of a great devotee like Narada, the hunter became afraid of his sinful activities. The hunter therefore replied: “My dear sir, from my very childhood I have been taught to kill animals in this way. Please tell me how I can get rid of all the offenses and sinful activities which I have accumulated. I am surrendering unto your feet. Please save me from all the reactions of my sinful activities which I have committed in the past, and please direct me to the proper path so that I can be free.”
“If you actually want to follow my directions, I can tell you the real path by which you can be freed from sinful reactions.”
“I shall follow whatever you say without hesitation,” the hunter agreed.
Narada then told him to first break his bow; only then would he disclose the path of liberation.
“You are asking me to break my bow,” the hunter protested, “but if I break it, what will be the means of my livelihood?”
“Don’t worry about your livelihood,” Narada said. “I shall send you sufficient grains in order to live.’,
The hunter then broke his bow and fell down at the feet of Narada. Narada got him to stand up, and he instructed him: “Just go to your home and distribute whatever money and valuables you have to the devotees and the brahmanas. Then just come out and follow me wearing only one cloth. Construct a small thatched house on the river bank and sow a tulasi plant by that house. Just circumambulate the tulasi tree, and every day taste one fallen leaf. Above all, always chant Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. As far as your livelihood is concerned, I shall send you grains, but you will only accept as much grain as you require for yourself and your wife.”
Narada then relieved the half-dead animals, and, getting freed from their dreadful condition, they fled away. Upon seeing Narada execute this miracle, the dark hunter was struck with wonder. After taking Narada to his home, he bowed down again at his feet.
Narada returned to his place, and the hunter, after returning home, began to execute the instructions Narada had given him. In the meantime, news spread amongst all the villages that the hunter had become a devotee. Consequently the residents of the villages came to see the new Vaishnava. It is the Vedic custom to bring grains and fruits whenever one goes to see a saintly person, and since all the villagers saw that the hunter had turned into a great devotee, they brought eatables with them. Thus every day he was offered grains and fruit, so much so that no less than ten to twenty people could have eaten there. According to Narada’s instructions, he did not accept anything more than what he and his wife required for sustenance.
After some days had passed, Narada told his friend Parvata Muni: “I have a disciple. Let us go to see him and see if he is doing well.”
When the two sages, Narada and Parvata, went to the hunter’s home, the hunter saw his spiritual master coming from the distance, and he began to approach him with great respect. On his way to greet the great sages, the hunter saw that there were ants on the ground before him and that they were hindering his passage. When he reached the sages, he tried to bow down before them, but he saw that there were so many ants that he could not bow down without crushing them. Thus he slowly cleared away the ants with his cloth. When Narada saw that the hunter was trying to save the lives of the ants in this way, he was reminded of a verse from the Skanda Purana: “Is it not wonderful that a devotee of the Lord is not inclined to give any sort of pain to anyone, not even to an ant?”
Although the hunter formerly took great pleasure in half-killing animals, since he became a great devotee of the Lord, he was not prepared to give pain even to an ant. The hunter received the two great sages at his home and offered them a sitting place, brought water, washed their feet, took water to them to drink, and finally both he and his wife touched the water with their heads. After this, they began to feel ecstasy and began to dance and sing Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. They raised their hands and danced with their clothes flying. When the two great sages saw this ecstasy of love of Godhead manifest in the body of the hunter, Parvata Muni told Narada: “You are a touchstone, for by your association even a great hunter has turned into a great devotee.”
There is a verse in the Skanda Purana which states: “My dear Devarshi [Narada], you are glorious, and by your mercy, even the lowest creature, a hunter of animals, also became elevated to the path of devotion and attained transcendental attachment for Krishna.”
At length, Narada inquired of the hunter-devotee: “Are you getting your foodstuff regularly?”
“You send so many people,” the hunter replied, “and they bring so many eatables that we cannot begin to eat them.”
“That’s all right,” Narada replied. “Whatever you are getting is all right. Now just continue your devotional service in that way.”
After Narada had spoken this, both Narada and Parvata Muni disappeared from the hunter’s home. Lord Caitanya recited this story in order to show that even a hunter can engage in the devotional service of Krishna by the influence of pure devotees.
Continuing to explain the Atmarama verse, Lord Caitanya pointed out that the word atma also indicated all varieties of the Personality of Godhead. Generally the Personality of Godhead Himself, Krishna, and His different expansions are all known as the Personality of Godhead.
Anyone who is engaged in the devotional service of any form or extension of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is also called atmarama. All such devotees engage themselves either in the regulative principles of devotional service or in devotional service in transcendental love. These devotees are also divided into three categories: the associates, those perfected in devotional service, and those newly engaged in devotional service. Newly engaged devotees can be divided into two: those who have already attained attachment for the Lord and those who have not attained such attachment. When considered according to the two divisions of devotional service (namely regulative — and attachment in transcendental love) these classes of devotees become eight in number. By following the regulative principles of devotion, the perfect associates of the Lord are further divided into four classes: the servants, the friends, the parental superiors and the fiancees.
Just as some devotees are perfected by the execution of devotional service, so some of them are eternally perfect. Of those following the regulative principles of devotional service, there are the advanced and the beginners; and in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, there are sixteen types of devotees. Thus the atmaramas can be considered to exist in thirty-two divisions. If the words muni, nirgrantha, ca and api are applied to the thirty-two classes, then there are fifty-eight different types of devotees. All these devotees can be described by one word: atmarama. There may be many different kinds of trees standing in the forest, but the word “tree” describes them all.
Thus the Lord gave sixty different meanings to the word atmarama. In addition, He said that atma means “the living entity, beginning from the first living creature, Brahma, down to the ant.” He cited a verse from the Sixth Chapter of Vishnu Purana in which it is stated that all the energies of the Lord are spiritual. Although this is the case, the energy which is known as the source of the living entity is called spiritual, but the other energy, which is full of ignorance and is manifested in material activities, is called material nature. Even in the material creation, the living entities are innumerable. If by chance a living entity in the material world can associate with a pure devotee, he can engage in the pure devotional service of Krishna. “Formerly I thought of sixty different meanings for the word atmarama,” the Lord told Sanatana Gosvami, “but here another meaning comes to My mind by your association.”
After hearing the different explanations of the word atmarama, Sanatana Gosvami was struck with wonder, and he fell down in devotion at the feet of Lord Caitanya. “I understand that You are personally the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna,” Sanatana said, “and with Your breathing there are many manifestations of Vedic literature. You are the teacher of Srimad-Bhagavatam, and You best know the meanings of the verses of Srimad-Bhagavatam. It is not possible for others to understand the confidential meanings of Srimad-Bhagavatam without Your mercy.”