Bhim was the second eldest among the
Pandava brothers and he was the son of the wind god
Vayu and
Kunti. As son of Vayu, Bhim was the brother of
Hanuman, and was able to fly with great speed. He was a heroic warrior and was known for his great stature and strength. The weapon he usually wielded was the club.
Big built, Bhim was a man with herculean strength. He was wrathful in temper, abusive, a brave warrior, but a fierce and cruel enemy. He had churlish manners and was greedy for food, so that he was called Vrikodara, 'one with a wolf's belly.' When with his mother and four brothers, half of the food of the family was set apart for him, and the other half sufficed for the others. Bhim was known to be jolly and jocular when in a good mood. Bhim had a son Ghatotkacha with Hidimbi, an asura woman, who later assisted him in war. He had another wife Balandhara, the princess of Kasi, from whom he had a son named Sarvatraga or Sarvaga.
In the great Kurukshetra war, Bhim played a very prominent part. On the first day he fought against Bhishma; on the second he killed the two sons of the Raja of Magadha, and after them their father, killing him and his elephant in a single blow. Bhim fought with Drona until sunrise on one of the days of the battle. On the seventeenth day he killed Duhsasana, one of the Kaurava princes and drank his blood, as he had long before vowed to do, in revenge of the disgrace Duhsasana had brought upon Draupadi.
