Uneventful days

We have seen how the five Pandavas and Draupadi went to live in the palace of king Virata under their assumed names. That story is covered in a chapter called the entry of Pandavas (Pandava Pravesa Parvam).
The first three months of their stay in the land of the Matsyas were rather uneventful. All the six of them played their respective roles well and thus established their presence in the palace. They used to meet secretly among themselves regularly and exchange news. Their identity was kept in complete secrecy.

A wrestling match

A few wrestlers came to the palace during their forth month of stay. They were professionals with an unbeaten record. They challenged all in the assembly of king Virata to dare face any one of them in wrestling. None came forward, in spite of the repeated prompting by king Virata. It was a shame for a king like him to let the challenge go unopposed.

Finally, the king turned to Valala as he was well built and apparently strong. Bhima was reluctant in the beginning. In order not to disappoint his host, he finally came forward. There was a long battle of strength ad tactics between him and the leader of the visiting wrestlers. Finally, Bhima managed to win over his opponent and thus save the reputation of the Matsya king.

The chapter called the ticking off of time (Samaya Palana Parvam) ends with this short episode.

We next turn to www.kunjunny.blogspot.com for the story of a Brahmin who learnt valuable lessons from people of the lower rung of the society.