Bhima Travels to Sougandhika Forest

The ape had left. Bhima stood alone on the road that led into the vastness of Gandhamadana, and he began to walk. He thought about his own body — resplendent, unmatched on earth, the body of a man who had never been defeated. He thought about Dasharathi's greatness and power, the weight of what that name carried. And he thought about Draupadi's words, which had set him on this path and now drove him forward like a current. He travelled eagerly toward Sougandhika forest. The forests he passed through trembled as he moved. He saw blossoms of every colour, lotuses floating on still water, groves so thick with flowers they seemed to breathe colour. Mad elephants streaked with mud moved through the trees like masses of monsoon clouds. Bucks and does watched him pass, grass in their mouths, their darting eyes following his form. Bhimasena entered the mountain. It was infested with buffaloes, boars, and tigers. The forest trees were in blossom, stirred by the breeze, their branches lowered by the burden of delicate copper-red shoots — as if they had invited him in. He passed ponds teeming with lotuses, with beautiful tirthas (sacred fords) and groves, swarming with intoxicated bees. The lotuses seemed to join their hands in salutation. But Bhima's mind was set on the peak of the mountain, full of flowers. With Draupadi's words providing sustenance, he travelled faster. When the day had turned, in the forest infested with deer, he saw a wide river. It was full of unblemished golden lotuses, aswarm with intoxicated karandavas (waterfowl) and adorned with chakravakas (ruddy shelducks). It was as if a garland of spotless lotuses had been designed for the mountain itself. Near that river, the greatly powerful one saw the large Sougandhika forest. It was as radiant as the rising sun and brought him joy. On seeing this, Pandu's son thought that his desires had been satisfied. His mind went out to his beloved, who was suffering as a result of dwelling in the forest.