Bheema and the Saugandhika flower

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After Yudhishtar had lost the game of dice, the five
Pandavas and their wife Draupadi were exiled from their
kingdom for twelve years by the Kauravas. Krishna
understood that the Kauravas would never give the
Pandavas their kingdom and that a war was coming....

Krishna asked Arjuna to go to Kailash and worship Lord
Shiva and get divine weapons from him. Arjuna agreed
and left for Kailash. The other four brothers along with
Draupadi traveled from one forest to another during the
time of their exile.

They once came to the forest of Narayanashram...It was
the most beautiful forest and the majestic Ganga flowing
across the forest brightened the moods of the Pandavas
considerably.

Bheema, the second Pandava, was the son of the Vayu,
the Wind God. Bheema was exceptionally strong and
powerful and he was proud of his strength. Bheema
loved Draupadi very much and during the period of exile
he tried to satisfy every single whim and wish she had....

Draupadi also loved the forest of Narayashram. She
would daily go the Ganga and offer her prayers to Surya,
the Sun God. Feeling at peace she would come back to
her hut in the forest...

Once after Draupadi finished her praying, she was about
to go home, when a delightful aroma spread through the
forest. As a gentle breeze was blowing towards her,
Draupadi saw a flower drop before her. The aroma was
so enchanting that Draupadi actually felt giddy for a few
seconds. Slowly pulling herself together, she picked up
the beautiful flower in her hands. It was soft and the
flower was shining beautifully in a slight golden colour.
Mesmerised she carried the flower back her home.

She showed the flower to Bheema, 'Bheema! Bheema!
Look at this...' She said handing over the flower to
Bheema. The entire hut was lit up by the shine of the
flower and the aroma from the flower surrounded the
ashrama...Bheema looked wonderingly at the flower,
'What is it?' Draupadi shook her head mutely not able to
talk. 'I was coming back home, when the wind was
blowing from the north-eastern direction and the flower
fell near me...Isn't it beautiful?' She whispered looking at
the flower in awe.
Bheema laughed looking at the child-like face of
Draupadi, 'If you like them so much I will get you some
more flowers like this...'

Draupadi looked at Bheema eagerly, 'Can you get
them...That would be great!'

Bheema looked at Draupadi in the eye, 'I will be back
with plenty more such flowers for you my dear!' And off
he went...A mace in his hand, Bheema started off
towards the north-eastern direction. He walked and
walked and walked, along the Ganga...

As Bheema was walking, he saw a beautiful garden
before him. The word 'Beautiful' hardly did justice to the
garden...It was enchanting. As Bheema neared the
garden, a slight breeze picked up and Bheema could
smell the flowers though he was very far away. The
fragrance of one flower was strong...A hundred of them
together felt like heaven to Bheema.....

Happily Bheema realized that this was the garden where
the flowers which he was searching for grew....He would
now go and pluck as many as he wanted and take them
back to Draupadi. She would be so thrilled on seeing
them...

Bheema was about to walk when he saw a tough rope on
the ground...Puzzled he looked on both sides and on his
right saw an old...very old monkey....The monkey was
resting under the shade of the tree....It was the monkey's
tail which he had first thought was a rope...Shaking his
head and muttering to himself, Bheema went to the
monkey. 'Hey! Shoo!' He said waving his hands at the
monkey.

The monkey was sleeping with his eyes closed and did
not seem to hear him. Bheema yelled, ' SHOO!' The
monkey opened his eyes and looked at Bheema and
spoke, 'Are you talking to me?'

Bheema huffed up angrily, 'YOU ARE BLOCKING MY
PATH!' Bheema thought that the monkey was old and
deaf and yelled on top of his voice. The monkey said
softly, 'I can't hear you! Can't you speak in a lesser tone,
so that I can understand!'

Bheema muttered to himself angrily and said, 'Get out of
my way!'

The monkey looked at Bheema, 'I was not in your way!
What are you talking about?'

Bheema impatiently pointed at the monkey's tail, 'Get
your tail out of my way!'

The old monkey looked at the tail and nodded to
himself, 'Oh! Ok. Before I do that, tell me who you are?
What are you doing here, young man?' The old monkey
asked pointing around him, 'This is a dangerous place
for humans...'

Bheema laughed aloud, 'You old monkey! What can
possibly be dangerous for me? Do you even know who I
am? I am, Bheema, the Pandava! I am the son of the
Wind God and I am powerful enough to squash you like
a bug!' Bheema said arrogantly.

'Son of Vayu?' The monkey said looking slightly
impressed. Bheema thought that the monkey had
ignored everything else he had said...

'I am Vayuputra!' Bheema said proudly, 'And that makes
me the younger brother of Hanuman, the greatest
Vanara in the world, you silly monkey! Hanuman is
someone who is above all of you!'

'Hanuman? Who is that?' The old monkey asked looking
suspiciously at Bheema. That did it. Bheema bristled
with anger. 'You silly monkey! How dare you not know
about Hanuman! He was the greatest devotee of Lord
Rama and he was one of the most important reasons
Lord Rama won the war against Ravana! And do you
know how powerful he is...He can lift a whole mountain
on his shoulders....And he is a perfect master of his own
mind....He is one of the few people in the world who are
eternal....we worship him as our God...and you don't
know him?...' Bheema shook his head in anger, 'Silly
monkey!'

The old man feebly shook his head, 'Old age! I don't
remember much!'

Useless old monkey! Bheema thought to himself.
Irritated he said to the monkey, 'Now move out of the
way! I have to go!'

'You did not answer the second question I asked.' The
monkey said tiredly. 'What are you doing here?'

Bheema was fed up. He was not used to answering
foolish questions from anybody...Frustrated he shouted,
'Why should I tell you anything?'

The old monkey sighed, 'Son! I know you are irritated
with me...The least you can do when you are talking to
someone older than you is to be polite to them...'

Bheema wanted to punch the monkey...but he knew that
would not be right. With great difficulty he controlled
himself. 'I want to get some flowers for my wife....I can
smell them from here....I was going to go inside the
garden, when you stopped me, with your long tail....'
Bheema said through gritted teeth.

The monkey looked at Bheema weirdly, 'Seriously, what
is preventing you from jumping over my tail and just go
your own way?'

Bheem was finally exasperated. 'You silly
monkey!...Don't you know anything!....You should not
jump over someone who is older than you....Unless you
can leap over them like Hanuman...'

The old monkey shrugged, 'Yeah...I know it...You are not
Hanuman!' The monkey let out a deep breath. 'OK
Look...I am tired...Really tired! And I am also very old...
You said you are very strong and all that...Just lift my
tail and put it to one side and go your way...Problem
solved! You are not going to eat my head yelling at me
and I will not block your path!'

Bheema roared with laughter, 'You think I need my
strength to pull your tail...God! You are so dumb...I will
just push your tail away...I was just being polite to you,
thinking you would move out of my way....' Bheema
rolled up his mace and went towards the tail. 'Just see
what I do now, monkey!'

The monkey shrugged unconcerned and went back to
sleep.

Bheema angrily slipped his mace under the tail of the
monkey and carelessly lifted it....or atleast tried lifting
it.... Bheea was shocked when he felt the mace strain! He
looked down and looked that the tail was lying slightly
on top of the mace and it felt to him like the mace was
struck under it...Bheema looked in bewilderment at the
mace and looked furtively at the monkey, who looked as
if he was sleeping...

Bheema kept the mace on a tree nearby and with his
hands tried lifting the tail. Bheema grunted, heaved and
pushed and for all his efforts the tail did not even move
one inch! Bheema tried and tried and was
exhausted....He could not believe that he could not lift
the tail of an old monkey.

Bheema staggered and fell down. He was sweating and
breathing hard...and the tail looked exactly where it had
been....Bheema staggered to his feet and walked slowly
towards the old monkey. He sat down near it and asked
in awe, 'Who are you?'

The monkey opened its eyes and looked at Bheema with
amused eyes, 'Just an old monkey, nothing more!'

Bheema looked unhappily at the monkey and shook his
head, 'Look I am sorry for everything I said...I behaved
arrogantly and foolishly...' Bheema took a deep breath,
'Please forgive me and tell me who you are?'

The old monkey grinned, 'I am someone like you....'

Bheema blinked as everything suddenly became clear to
him, 'Oh my God! You....Hanuman! Oh my God!'
Bheema slapped his forehead, 'I thought of fighting with
you...I am so foolish..How could I not know?' Bheema
held his head in his hands and shook his head.

Hanuman clasped his brother's shoulders and smilingly
shook his head, 'It is ok, little brother, you did it out of
ignorance...I do not hold any grudge against you....'

Bheema looked at Hanuman with tears in his eyes, 'I am
sorry! I am so sorry!' Hanuman realized that Bheema
was genuinely sorry for what he had done and quickly
forgave him.

Bheema fell at Hanuman's feet and begged for
forgiveness.

Hanuman lifted his brother and told him, 'I came here to
warn you, little brother!' He said lovingly ruffling
Bheema's hair.

Bheema looked at Hanuman wondering what Hanuman
would say, 'I know you have come here looking for the
Saugandhika flower...It blooms in Kubera's garden...It is
in that garden there....' Hanuman said pointing at a
beautiful garden beyond. 'Be careful it is a dangerous
place...it is filled with yakshas and powerful beings...'
Bheema nodded. Hanuman looked at him and smiled,
'But you are the most powerful man in the world...What
should you be worried about?'

Bheema wryly shook his head, 'Nothing...other than old
monkeys who are so tired that they cannot move their
tails...'

Both the brothers laughed and hugged each other. As
Bheema felt his brother's embrace, he felt a change come
over him....He flexed his arms and looked at his
brother...Bheema felt powerful...stronger than before.
Hanuman proudly nodded his head.

'I will always be with you, my brother! Whenever you
roar in battle, I will roar with you...The sound would be
heard like thunder...' Bheema's eyes shone as Hanuman
continued, 'I will also be in your brother Arjuna's
flag...for your victory....' Bheema once again fell at
Hanuman's feet.

Bheema listened in wonder as Hanuman told him stories
of the Ramayana...Bheema was looking at his brother
and opened his mouth to say something and closed it
again shaking his head. Hanuman was quick to notice it.
'What is it, little brother?' Bheema hesitated. 'Go
ahead...Tell me...' Hanuman encouraged him.

Bheema licked his lips, 'I...I just want to see your form
when...when you leapt across the ocean to find Sita Devi
in Lanka...'

Hanuman laughed. Before Bheema's very eyes,
Hanuman grew...and grew and GREW! There was a
dazzling light emanating from Hanuman that Bheema
was finding it difficult to see...Hanuman was now so big
that he looked bigger than the tallest mountain in the
world...Bheema gazed in wonder. Suddenly Hanuman
was back at his side...

Bheema was thrilled and again fell at Hanuman's feet.
Hanuman blessed him and vanished from there....With
his brother's blessings Bheema went into the forests in
search of the Saugandhika flower....