Week 6 Story: WWE, Indian Mythology Edition

Tonight, here on SportsCenter, we are going to show you the Top 10 plays in India this year. It was a year with many great athletic feats, but one athlete claims the top two spots. Many compare his bold feats to Rama, but I think he's even more impressive because he doesn't even need weapons. Here are SportsCenter's top two plays of the year. Both feature Bhima, a superhuman superstar in the WWE. Let's roll some footage.

Footage 1 - #2 Play of the Year - Bhima vs Baka

"Baka, an asura hailing from Ekachakra, has been harassing the townspeople. He's been eating one townsperson every week, and Bhima, the hero who trained under the legendary fighter, Drona, is going to attempt to put a stop to it tonight. They're entering the stage now!", Vyasa stated.

"Bhima appears to be taunting Baka; he has been eating rice while calling Baka's name. Surely this will upset Baka," Vyasa noted. "And it does! Baka is charging Bhima with a tree branch! What will Bhima do?!?"

The crowd fell silent as Baka charged, but cheered uproariously as Bhima caught the club with a single hand and grabbed Baka with his other hand. No one expected Bhima to be able to counter Baka so effortlessly. Then, Bhima threw Baka to the ground. The crowd roared, "Finish him!"

Bhima, using his signature move, the Bow-and-Arrow, placed a knee on Baka's back, one hand on Baka's neck, and the other at the waist of Baka and shattered Baka's back. Bhima hadn't even broken a sweat!

Following the fight, Bhima gave an announcement on the TV, "Townspeople of Ekachakra, Baka will no longer bother you."

Footage 2 - #1 Play of the Year - Bhima vs Hidimba

Vyasa announced, "In one corner, we have Bhima, who has not yet fought a rakshasa, and in the other corner we have the formidable rakshasa, Hidimba."

In one side, Bhima, his brothers, and his mother enter the room with minimal applause; no one knows exactly who Bhima is yet. On the other side of the room enters Hidimba and his sister, Hidimbi. Hidimba had plans to cheat. Hidimba forced Hidimbi to take the form of a very beautiful girl, and he was planning to distract Bhima so the fight would be quick and easy. Bhima noticed the beautiful girl, but knew not to fall for the trick. Hidimba and Bhima have now entered the ring. Hidimba notices that Bhima is not distracted, but now also notices that Hidimbi has fallen for Bhima.

"Can you believe what we're seeing?! Bhima has gotten Hidimba's sister to fall in love with him! Surely Hidimba will take offense!", Vyasa exclaimed.

And, as Announcer 1 had suspected, Hidimba had taken serious offense. He charged Hidimbi, but Bhima stepped in the way. The crowd fell silent, eager to here what the hero and rakshasa were going to say.

Bhima boomed, "You coward, you're here to fight me!"

Bhima and Hidimba fight while the Pandavas cheer Bhima on.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia

Hidimba turned his anger towards Bhima. Hidimba rushed Bhima, but Bhima caught him by the arms before Hidimba could land a blow. Bhima threw Hidimba to the ground, and then drug him offstage. The crowd was going wild. They had never known of Bhima, and he is manhandling Hidimba! After minutes of wrestling, it became obvious to the Pandavas that Hidimba was trying to make the fight last a long time so he could finish off Bhima once Bhima wore out. Arjuna, aware of the plot shouted, "Finish him, Bhima!"

Bhima climbed to the top rope, and the crowd fell silent. He was towering over Hidimba, who still lies on the ground. Bhima flew off the top rope, bodyslamming Hidimba. The crowd went wild, cheering Bhima's name. Bhima then showcased his signature move in front of the eager crowd - the Bow-and-Arrow. Bhima picked the rakshasa up by the neck and waist and then threw the rakshasa over his knee, breaking Hidimba's back. The fight was now clearly over. However, not only did Bhima defeat Hidimba, he then added insult to injury by marrying Hidimba's sister after she witnessed the stunning victory of Bhima over Hidimba.

Author's Note

While reading the Mahabharata, I noticed that described fights had a lot of drama and followed a common theme with Bhima ending the fights the same way. It was around midnight at the time of me reading the Mahabharata and my tired brain for some reason made me think of the Mahabharata fight scenes as a WWE-esque story. I adapted two fight scenes from the Mahabharata (Bhima vs Hidimba and Bhima vs Baka) into a WWE atmosphere while mirroring the plot points from the stories into my story. I put Vyasa as the announcer as he was the one who authored the Mahabharata so I thought it was fitting.

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata, Part B

Story Information

Bhima's Adventures

Prince Vidura, the brother of Pandu and Dhritarashtra, was good to the Pandavas and Kunti. Prince Vidura was not eligible to be king because his mother was a slave, but he was a prince. Prince Vidura came across a plot that Duryodhana had to kill the Pandavas - he had built the Pandavas's house out of wood and soaked many household items in oil. Vidura told the Pandavas of the plan to murder them, and then Vidura schemed to get them out. Vidura planned to dig a tunnel to the forest so the Pandavas could escape. After the house had burned down with the Pandavas and Queen Kunti escaped to the forest, the town of Hastinapura was sure that the Pandavas and their mother had passed away. In the forest, a rakshasa attempted to eat the group. Then, the rakshasa, named Hidimba, decided to charge the attack towards his sister, Hidimbi. However, Bhima fought off the rakshasa as Bhima did not want him to attack Hidimbi and snapped the rakshasa's back, and the rest of the group remained unharmed. Bhima's fight with the Rakshasa lasted a very long time, but Arjuna told Bhima to finish off Hidimba before morning as the rakshasa would grow stronger in the morning. The rakshasas's sister had taken the form as a beautiful woman to trick Bhima, but Bhima did not fall for the trick. However, the raskshasi fell in love with Bhima, and pleaded with Queen Kunti to be Bhima's wife. Kunti agreed and Bhima married the rakshasi. They had a son named Ghatotkacha who vowed to come to help the Pandavas whenever called upon. Soon, the group was in Ekachakra, and were waiting for Bhima to return to help slay a demon that had been attacking the town's rice cart. Bhima went out with the rice cart, and surprised the demon (named Baka) and killed Baka by grabbing his neck when Baka was charging with a club and then breaking his back. 

Bhima and Hidimba fight while everyone else watches.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia

Sources:

"Indian Myth and Legend" by Donald A. Mackenzie [Online]

"The Indian Heroes" by C. A. Kincaid [Online]

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata, Part A

Characters

• Vyasa - tells the Mahabharata to Ganesha
• Satyavati - mother of Vyasa, daughter of Uparichara
• Parachara - rishi/father of Vyasa

Information

Story of Vyasa's Birth: Found online here

There was a king named Uparichara who was so noble that the gods were worried that he was trying to gain too much power. Indra decided to bribe Uparichara with a flying crystal chariot made by Vishvakarma. Uparichara decided to take the chariot. The chariot was like other chariots made by Vishvakarma, and Uparichara loved it a lot. In fact, "Upari" means upward and "Chara" means going, so Uparichara's name literally translates to "upward going". Uparichara was flying over a river when his semen landed in the river, and, then, a fish had two of Uparichara's kids. A fisherman caught the fish and kids, and gave the boy to the king and raised the girl. The girl's name was Satyavati, and she met a rishi named Parashara. Parashara and Satyavati had a kid and named him Vyasa. Vyasa went on to tell the Mahabharata to Ganesha.

Other Sources: "Uparichara Vasu" on Wikipedia

Story of Bhima:

The Pandavas, Pandu's sons, and Kauravas, Dhritarashtra's sons, lived together on the bank of the Ganges. Duryodhana, the evil son of Dhritarashtra, one day conspired to kill the Pandavas. Duryodhana poisoned Bhima, one of the Pandavas, while Bhima was eating. Duryodhana then threw Bhima into the Ganges where Bhima sank to the bottom and was bitten by the poisonous serpents known as Nagas. The poison from the Nagas counteracted the poison from Duryodhana and Bhima woke up. At this point, Bhima was in the city of serpents and the king of the serpents, Vasuki, was in awe of Bhima and granted him a wish. Bhima wished for strength and was given extraordinary strength. Bhima then slept for eight days before returning to his home, besting Duryodhana's assassination attempt.

Sources:

"Indian Myth and Legend" by Donald A. Mackenzie [Online]

Bhima with the Nagas in the underworld
Image courtesy of Wikimedia

Story of Drona:

Drona was the son of Bharadwaja, a brahmin. Drona's best childhood friend was Drupada, a son of a king. Eventually, Drupada became a king when his father passed away. A sage passed away and left celestial weapons to Drona, so Drone went to Drupada's kingdom to share the weapons with Drupada. However, Drupada had no intentions of continuing the friendship with Drona and Drona left without saying another word after Drupada's reply. Drona then became the teacher for the Pandavas and Kauravas, under the condition that they would one day help him defeat Drupada. However, Drona favored the Pandavas, and Duryodhana grew jealous. Drona only ever turned away Ekalavya, the son of a king who was notorious for robbing travelers. Eventually, Ekalavya became a good archer and Drona told Ekelavya that he would take him on if Ekalavya would cut off his thumb, and Ekalavya cut off his thumb. One day, Drona's pupils were sparring but it became serious between Bhima and Duryodhana, and the fight was won by Arjuna, Bhima's brother. Drona sent the Pandavas and Kauravas to Drupada's kingdom, and after Drupada's army was slain, he was brought to Drona by the Pandavas. Drona again requested Drupada revive the friendship and Drupada agreed.

Sources:

"Indian Myth and Legend" by Donald A. Mackenzie [Online]

"Mahabharata, Epic of the Bharatas" by Romesh C. Dutt [Online]