Reading Note: Mahabharata Part B

Bhima fighting the Rakshasa, Hidimba. Image Source
Part B of the Public Domain Edition of Mahabharata is more thrilling and fast paced. It contains more episodes of violence and revenge. The latter chapters initiate a cycle of revenge and war. The amount of jealousy and betrayal among kinsmen and enemies increases. I do find that this part of the story is easier to read; however, there still remained times when several new characters were introduced that it left me wondering about what happened to the characters that were introduced first.

Bhima and Hidimbi and was one of my favorite stories as it reminded me of one of my favorite middle school romantic fantasy series, The Twilight Saga. Bhima and Hidimbi met by unfortunate circumstances. Bhima was trying save the rakshasi, Hidimbi from being dismembered by her brother. Similarly, in Twilight novel, a regular human being, Bella is saved by a modernized rakshasha, vampire, Edward, from being crushed by a van. From that point the couple falls in love, which is similar to Bhima and Hidimbi's story. There is a common pattern and format of antipodal lovers faling in love.

Bhima and Baka was another favorite story from this part. It was very graphic and reminded me of films like 300 and Sparta that involved a lot of fighting and detailed war scenes. One specific scene that caught my attention was when Bhima snapped the body of Baka in two as though he were a twig.


Bibliography: Arold et. al. Mahabharata: Public Domain Edition.web 

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