Pramana Koti: The Poisoning of Bhima

The story of the poisoning of Bhima at Pramana Koti is an important milestone: it marks the first of Duryodhana’s many plans to get rid of the Pandavas, whether it be through poisoning, the lac house, or the famous gambling game. This is a famous incident, but in this post, I use the original text to explain the details that you may not be aware of.

Bhimasena’s Strength

This story is in the Mahabharata (KMG) Adi Parva Ch. 128-129

After the death of Pandu the Pandavas arrived at Hastinapura. The life at Hastinapura was a complete transformation for the Pandavas. They had grown up in the forest, with only the bare necessities. Now, suddenly, they had all the luxuries of royal life: feasts everyday, royal attire, servants are their disposal, and all the facilities of a grand palace.

The arrival of the Pandavas was a joyous occasion for everyone except the Kaurava brother. They grew jealous as the Pandavas beat them in nearly everything. As small children, the cousins played games like running as fast as possible, hitting targets with darts, eating as much as possible, etc. In all of these games, the Pandavas would win. Most prominent was the strength of Bhima. He used to playfully harass the Kauravas in the gardens, dragging them by their hair and throwing them down. He would kick them and beat them. When the boys played in the water, young Bhima would hold their heads underneath the water until they were about to drown. When the Kauravas climbed trees to gather fruit, Bhima would kick the tree and the boys would fall off. Of course, Bhima was only a child and he didn’t actually have any ill will towards the Kauravas. But the Kauravas grew to hate him especially.

Pramana Koti Palace

Duryodhana thought to himself, “Bhima is the strongest of the Pandavas. If I can get rid of him, then I can easily overpower Yudhishthira and become the next king!” With that thought, Duryodhana formulated a plan, the first of many. He talked to an architect and had a wonderful palace constructed in a place called Pramana Koti along the river. The palace was beautifully painted and the walls were decorated with tapestry. There were artificial fountains and tanks of water with lotuses.

Duryodhana invited the Pandavas to Pramana Koti. There, the Pandavas and Kauravas spent hours playing all types of games in the water. After their games, they would eat and rest in the palace. One day, while they were eating, Duryodhana personally served Bhima a tray of food. Unknown to Bhima, this food had been laced with the deadly kalakuta poison. After the meal, the boys went into the water to play. Hours later, everyone was tired and went into the palace to rest. But Bhima especially felt very exhausted. He collapsed on the banks of the river, and as the effects of the poison spread over him, he lost consciousness. Duryodhana quickly tied him up with weeds and threw him into the water.

Strength of a Thousand Elephants

Bhima’s body sank all the way to the riverbed. Here, in the depths of the river, was the residence of the Nagas (snakes). They surrounded Bhima and bit him by the thousands. It turns out that the venom of the snakes actually neutralized the poison in Bhima’s body. He regained consciousness to find himself underwater surrounded by snakes. He broke the vines binding him and started attacking the snakes.

The frightened Nagas went to their king, Vasuki. “O King, a human has sunk to our land. He was unconscious and tied up, so he had probably been poisoned. When we attacked him, he woke up and started killing us. Please come and see the situation.”

Vasuki came there with Aryaka, who was Kunti’s great-grandfather. Aryaka immediately recognized his descendant and embraced him.

The Nagas fled and ran to their king Vasuki, reporting to him what they had seen. Thus, Vasuki went to the place where Bhima was. There happened to be a Naga there named Aryaka who was the great grandfather of Kunti. He recognized his relative Bhima and embraced him.

“We will give Bhima immense wealth,” Vasuki declared.

“No, my king. Kshatriyas do not value wealth. They value power and strength. We will feed Bhima our secret nectar of which each potful imbibes the strength of 1000 elephants,” Aryaka replied.

So, Bhima first took a holy bath. Then, a ceremony was conducted. Afterward, Bhima was told to face east and given a pot full of the nectar. He drank the entire pot in one gulp. He then drank seven more pots of the nectar. Bhima was then put to sleep for eight days.

Bhima Returns Home

Meanwhile, back on land, the Pandavas were searching for Bhima. They searched everywhere in the area but couldn’t find him. Assuming that he had already left to go back home, the Pandava and Kaurava brothers departed from Pramana Koti. But to the Pandavas’s despair, Bhima was not in Hastinapura either! Kunti mourned the disappearance of her son. “Where is my dearest Bhima! All of my other sons are back, but he is nowhere to be found. I swear if that Duryodhana killed my Bhima! I know he’s always been jealous of my son,” Kunti said through sobs. Vidura tried his best to comfort her, saying “Kunti, your sons have been blessed with longevity by the great rishis. I promise you nothing has happened to him.”

Meanwhile, Bhima awoke underwater after 8 days. He felt a strange feeling of strength, almost a superhuman amount of strength. As he awoke, the Nagas surrounded him and proclaimed, “You now have the strength of ten thousand elephants. Nobody will be able to defeat you in a fight.” Bhima took a holy bath prepared by the snakes and after being blessed and presented with gifts by Vasuki, he arose back to the surface. The young boy quickly went back to Hastinapura. Kunti and his brothers were relieved to see him back in one piece.

Later on, Duryodhana would attempt many other ploys to kill Bhima. On one occasion, he poisoned Bhima’s food again, but this time, it had no effect on Bhima. Another time, Bhima was warned of Duryodhana’s plans by Yuyutsu. After many failed attempts, Duryodhana gave up his plans to kill Bhima.