Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057345).pdf/244

 236 KHE Going further back into legendary history, the Kheri district can boast that one of its villages was the site of a wealthy and populous king- dom 3,500 years ago, and that one of the most dramatic episodes in the Mabábhárata, the Iliad of the East, occurred within its boundaries. I shall consider this incident, as it not only contains the principal legend of the district, but also introduces us to a powerful clan, the Bachhils. The village of Balmiár Barkhár, in pargana Muhamdi, is said to have been the residence of Rája Bairát, with whom the Pándus stayed during the thir. teenth year of their exile, and all the details of their sojourn, with the precise locality in which each incident occurred, are pointed out by the residents on the spot. There, they say, was the palace of the king's wicked brother-in-law Kichaka. To this hill went Draupadi, the wife of the five Pándus, to meet him. Here is still the hollow in the ground where, as in a huge mortar, Kichaka was pounded by the mighty Bhím; also the small mound where Kichaka's dead body was burnt. The story may be epitomized here. The five Pándus, who had gambled away their entire estate and even their liberty, had bound themselves by an oath to remain concealed for the thirteen years of their banishment from Hastinapur. They came to Bairátkhera in disguise, and all were taken into service. The eldest, Judhistthir, undertook to teach the king gam- bling, having learned too late the trick by which he had been cheated of his kingdom. Bhím the giant became cook; Arjun, dressed as a eunuch, was admitted as teacher of dancing and singing into the zanána; Nakul becare chief coachman; and Sáhdeo master of the cattle. Among other adventures, Bhím overcame Jimuta, a mighty wrestler ; but the principal incident of the sojourn is the passion conceived for Draupadi by Kichaka, the brother-in-law of the king. Kichaka asked his sister, the queen, who had engaged the beautiful Draupadi's services, to send her to his house. The queen consented, and gave Draupadi a goblet of wine to carry to Kichaka. Weeping and trembling she presented herself before the queen's brother who treated her rudely, and when she ran away to seek redress in the king's council, Kichaka followed, seized her by the hair, and kicked her before all. The rája, when appealed to, said he did not know what had taken place between them, and could not therefore interfere. Draupadi appealed to Bhím, the mightiest of her five husbands, aad by his advice agreed to meet Kiehaka at night in the music hall of the palace. Bhím repaired in her stead to the place of assignation ; and when Kichaka, deceived by the darkness, went up to the giant thinking it was Draupadi, Bhím seized him by his hair which, being well oiled, slipped through his fingers. A long fight cnsued, but Bhím at last whirled"Kichaka round striking his head against the wall. He then ground and broke in his chest with his knee. Afterwards smashing all the bones, he pounded the body into pieces and kneaded it into a ball, so that the people might think that some Gandharva, or evil demon, had done the deed. Kichaka's brothers caught Draupadi and tied her to Kichaka's funeral pile, but Bhím, with his long hair tangled round his face and a club on his shoulders, rescued her. The rest of the Pándus' adventures are of a more prosaic description, but their life in Bairátkhera, as told in the Mahabharata; constitutes the most detailed picture of Hindu court and domestic life, which has