Bakasura

Bakasura

In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Bakasura, (also called Bakasur or Bakasuran) (बकासुर) is a Rakshasa (demon) killed by Bhima. The demon lived near the city of Ekachakra (sometimes Chakranagari), and forced the king to send him daily a large quantity of provisions, which he devoured, and not only the provisions, but the men who carried them. Under the directions of Kunti, her son Bhima was sent to Bakasura for his food.

The Pandavas and their mother Kunti were in exile. Once while going from place to place, they reached a quiet village. There they stayed in the house of a Brahmin villager who had graciously provided shelter to the Pandavas. The Brahmin had one elder daughter and a little boy. A few days were spent in peace and happiness, until one day Kunti heard cries from the Brahmin's house and went to see what was happening. Each member of the family were willing to sacrifice their life. The Brahmin was saying that it was his responsibility to sacrifice life as he is the head of the household and it was his duty to save the family. The wife was stating that it was her duty towards the family. The daughter intervened saying that it was her duty to offer the life. In a similar way, the son was also volunteering. Kunti didn't understand the reason behind this conversation. When she calmly requested the Brahmin to explain, he narrated the story of Bakasura. The Brahmin explained the agreement the king had with the demon about a villager taking a carload of food and the demon eating both the food and the man that brought it. The demon had killed many of the villagers in that manner and now that it was their family's turn, one member from his family had to take food and offer themselves to the demon. Listening to this, Kunti said she would send one of her sons to Bakasura and save the Brahmin family. She explained that the guest becomes a part of the family's happiness and problems and so the problem of the Brahmin's family was her problem too, so she had complete rights to solve it. When the Brahmin insisted she not make the sacrifice, Kunti stated that she had five sons, so even if one son is dead, she had four more. She finally convinced the Brahmin to send one of her own sons to Bakasura and insisted that the Brahmin has to survive and take care of his wife and children, since she knew that it would be very difficult for the wife to bring up the children without the husband - a situation she herself was in.

After discussion with the Pandavas, it was decided that Bhima would go to Bakasura to save the family and people of Ekachakranagar. Hence, Bhima took the stead of a bait villager and went with supplies to Bakasura. When Bhima reached the forest, he found Bakasura. In order to irritate him, Bhima himself ate all the food. Bakasura's anger knew no bounds. A fierce battle erupted between the two and finally, Bhima killed Bakasura.

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