Vyasa

Aranyaka Parva›Dhritarashtra's Internal Conflict and the Attempt to Restrain Duryodhana

Dhritarashtra Asks Vidura About Kirmira's Death

Why "Minor"?

Causal ReachTop 99%
Character WeightTop 97%
State ChangeTop 95%
Narrative RecallTop 50%

~1 min read

Blind King Dhritarashtra, restless in his palace, asks his brother Vidura to tell him the story of how Bhima killed the rakshasa Kirmira in the Kamyaka forest. Vidura agrees, setting the stage for a tale he heard directly from the Pandavas themselves.

Dhritarashtra sat in his palace in Hastinapura, blind to the world outside but not to the thoughts that gnawed at him. The Pandavas were in exile — driven out by his own son Duryodhana's machinations — and yet reports of their deeds reached him, each one a thorn in his chest. He turned to Vidura, his brother, the wisest man in the court. "O Kshatta," Dhritarashtra said, using Vidura's title with the familiarity of blood, "I wish to hear about the killing of Kirmira. Tell me about the encounter between the rakshasa and Bhimasena." Vidura inclined his head. He had heard the account directly from the Pandavas themselves, during their exile, when they had passed through these lands and spoken of what they had endured. It was not a tale he had invented or embellished — it was their own telling, preserved in his memory. "I will tell you," Vidura said, "about this superhuman deed of Bhima's."

Aranyaka Parva, Chapter 309