THE STORY OF BHIMA AND KUVERA

Once there was a famine in Emperor Yudisthira’s kingdom because of a drought.

He asked brother Bhima to go to god Kuvera and request him on his behalf to lend him ten thousand cart loads of paddy to feed his hungry subjects.

When Bhima reached the god’s abode, he saw a rustic-looking person, bending low to collect paddy grains from the ground in the courtyard with great concentration. So lost was he in his work that he did not notice the Pandava’s arrival. He had on his body barely a loin cloth and a short upper cloth. Bhima had never met the Lord of Wealth, but he had an idea of what he would look like. He thought that the man was the god’s servant. He went to him and asked him how to meet Kuvera. The grain gatherer said he was Kuvera himself.

Bhima could not come to terms with what he had seen, that the god of Wealth looked like a pauper and lived like a pauper. He must be miserliness incarnate, he thought and wondered if he would really part with so much paddy, even as loan.

But Kuvera happily agreed to give Yudhisthira all the paddy he wanted and that too, not as loan. He was glad to be of help to the very embodiment of dharma in the mortal world. Soon Bhima left with the cartloads of paddy.

In the meantime, the road had become extremely slushy because of the rains and the carts could just not proceed. Not knowing what to do, Bhima returned to Kuvera. He told Bhima to empty on the road as much paddy from the carts on the front as necessary for the road to become hard enough for the carts to move. To compensate for the paddy lost, he gave him more paddy.

Bhima folded his hands and apologized to him for what he had thought of him. He told him that when he first saw him, he was doing what the poorest of the poor would do and he thought that he was a great miser. He was unsure whether such a miser would part with so much paddy without a thought. And now, the same one who was picking paddy from the ground, was asking him to pour cart loads of paddy on the mud so that the carts could pass. That he found very confusing.

The god of Wealth smiled and told him that while working for wealth, one must be very particular about every single pie but when there arises the need to spend, one must not hesitate to spend as much as is necessary. 

Note: Ask anyone in Odisha, who has some interest in Sarala Mahabharata, he is most likely to say that this story occurs in Sarala’s magnum opus. Ask a Sarala Mahabharata scholar, he would not disagree but would say that he isn’t sure in which edition this story occurs. My search is on; if I succeed, I will let you know.