Ekachakra

The Pandavas met Vedavyasa on their way from Varanavata in the forest. The sage came to know of their escape from the house of wax and subsequent hardships in the forest. He came to console them with the words that good days were certainly in store for them. He suggested that they go to the nearby town called Ekachakra. They were asked to stay there for a month. The sage would meet them again there. Accordingly, the Pandavas followed the direction given by Vyasa and reached the town.

They found shelter in the house of a Brahmin in the town. The Brahmin lived with his wife, daughter and a young son. The Pandavas went from door to door around the town begging for their food. They handed whatever they collected during the day over to their mother. Kunti normally gave half of it to Bheema as he ate more than all the others together. The rest was divided equally among the others.

The demon named Baka

One day they heard wails from that part of house where the Brahmin’s family lived . Kunti wanted to find out what troubled their good hosts so that she could extend whatever possible help to them.

She found the whole family in a heated argument. Kunti heard the Brahmin argue that he would better give up his life so that the rest survived. His loving wife would not stand his arguments. She would rather go in his place and save the others. Neither of this was acceptable to their daughter. She would gladly go in place of her parents. Even the young boy said that he would go and meet the enemy with the toy he held in his hand.

When Kunti asked they explained the situation. There lived in the outskirts of the town a demon by name Baka. He terrorized the whole town and started eating all the residents in large numbers. The king or his army could do nothing against the strong demon. So, the residents met among themselves and came up with a proposal. They would take turns to take whatever food that Baka needed each day to him. His food consisted of several large measures of cooked rice and dishes. That was to be carried by a cart and pulled by two buffalos . One person from the household had to drive the cart. The entire load, including the food, buffalos and the driver, was for the demon to eat. They pleaded with Baka to be pleased with arrangement and got his approval. It was clear that the turn of Kunti’s hosts came that day. None of them could stand the loss of any of the others in the family.

Kunti then told them that none of them needed to go. She would arrange for someone to drive the food to the demon. By then Kunti knew how capable Bheema was to face enemies like Baka. But, she did not reveal her identity. She simply said that she had some powerful friends with supernatural powers. She requested the Brahmins not to reveal her secret to anyone. No wonder that her hosts were greatly relieved and felt grateful beyond words to her.

Kunti then explained the situation to her son. Bheema had no hesitation to take on that assignment. He had, apparently, other ideas in his mind.

Bhima purposefully drove the cart at a leisurely pace to the demon’s place of dwelling. Meanwhile, he started enjoying all the food that was meant for Baka. He had not had a decent meal ever since he left Varanavata. There was so much food in the cart that Bheema quite could not finish it before reaching the destination.

Baka was waiting impatiently for his daily meal. The unusual delay made him even angrier. He spotted the cart from a distance, but, he could not believe his eyes when he found the driver eating his food unconcerned of anything else. He ran to Bheema with a roar, but, the Pandava ignored that, too. Bheema coolly suffered a few blows from the mighty demon while he finished the entire load of food.

Then he turned to Baka. The demon was about to hit Bheema with a huge trunk of an uprooted tree. Bheema broke that down like a twig and then caught hold of Baka. The two wrestled for a while. They exchanged blows and hit one another with uprooted trees. Finally, Bheema overpowered the demon and killed him without difficulty. Thus, thanks to Bheema, the entire town was saved from the perpetual threat from the demon.

Thus ends the chapter called “Baka Vadham or the killing of Baka”.