The Birth of Ghatotkacha

After this, the Pandavas decided to go to a small town nearby so that Duryodhana would not find out about them. Hidimbi followed them from a distance, but Bhima heard the chiming of her jewelry. He turned around and sternly told her to go back. She was distraught.

She pleaded with Kunti, "Surely, you can understand the feelings of a woman in love. I have left my family because of your son, whom I now regard as my husband. If he does not accept me, my life will be in vain." 

Then she begged Yudhishthira to tell Bhima to reconsider. Yudhishthira also sympathized with her. She promised that she would return Bhima to them before nightfall. At Kunti's and Yudhishthira's urging, Bhima agreed to go with Hidimbi.

Hidimbi and Bhima leapt into the sky and landed on the peak of a beautiful mountain. They made love. Hidimbi, being a witch, immediately gave birth to a son. The boy, too, possessed magical powers and grew into a young man in mere seconds. He had the strength of a demon and the ability to shapeshift. "His head is smooth like a clay pot," said Bhima. "We will name him Ghatotkacha," which means "pot-headed" or "bald as a pot" in Sanskrit. That very day, Ghatotkacha mastered the use of various weapons.

Toward the evening, Hidimbi remembered the promise she had made to Yudhishthira. Bhima, along with Hidimbi and Ghatotkacha, traveled to the place where the Pandavas were awaiting him. Ghatotkacha respectfully bowed to his father, uncles, and grandmother. After they blessed him, Ghatotkacha turned to Bhima and said, "Father, my mother and I must go now. But if you ever need me, all you have to do is think of me, and I will immediately appear before you."

No sooner had Hidimbi and her son, Ghatotkacha, left than the Pandavas began their journey. They dressed up like ascetics with matted hair and wandered from one jungle to another. Being strong, Bhima would carry Kunti on his shoulders whenever they passed through rough terrain. They occasionally stopped at sages' huts and listened to them recite the Vedas.