Bhima Conquers the Eastern Kingdoms – Stories from Sabha Parva

The four younger Pandava brothers went on the dijvijaya yatra at the same time to conquer the kingdoms. When Arjuna traveled north, Bhima went eastwards with a large army. 

Bhima started with Panchala. Here, he didn’t have to fight. After accepting the tribute happily offered by his in-laws, he went on to defeat the Gandakis, the Videhas, and the Dasharnas. In Dasharna, King Sudharma fought and displayed his valor, that too without using any weapons. Bhima was so impressed that he made Sudharma the supreme general of his army and invited him to Yudhistira’s Rajasuya with respect. 

From there, Bhima proceeded to Rochamana and his younger brother. Next, he moved south towards the Pulindas to conquer Sukumara and Sumitra. He went to Cedi where Sishupala welcomed him heartily. He agreed to pay tribute to Yudhistira and promised to attend the Rajasuya. Bhima stayed in Cedi for thirty nights as a guest before resuming his conquests. 

Then, he vanquished Kumara Shrenimana and Brihadbala of Kosala. He defeated Dirghaprajna in Ayodhya, conquered the land of Gopalakaccha and the northern Sottamas, and fought the king of the Mallas. He also won Jaradgava along the Himalayan slope and defeated many nearby kingdoms. He also conquered Unnata and the mountains of Kukshimanta, before entering Kashi and defeating King Subandhu. 

Next, Bhima fought and subdued King Kratha of Suparshva, the Matsyas, Gayas, King Mardavika, and King Mahidhara before turning northward towards the foothills. Here, he won over the Vatsas, the Bhargas, the Nishadas, and many lands owned by Manimana. Then, the second Pandava brother fought the southern Mallas and Bhogavanta. He went on to accept the truce of the Sharmakas, the Varmakasa, and King Janaka of Videha. Bhima stayed back in Videha for a while to defeat the kings from nearby kingdoms. 

Bhima defeated the Suhmas and eastern Suhmas to reach Magadha where he was welcomed by Jarasandha’s son. Next, he went to Anga to fight Karna and defeated him. He conquered more kingdoms near the mountains and faced Modagiri. He also fought Vasudeva, the king of Poundra, and another king from the regions of Kaushiki. Next, Bhima conquered Vanga by defeating King Kacha. He fought Samudrasena and King Chandrasena of Tamralipta. 

He journeyed along the ocean to defeat the mlecchas and reached Louhitya (Brahmaputra River) to conquer more kingdoms on the islands. Here, he extracted gems, sandalwood, garments, pearls, silver, coral, etc., as tribute. 

Carrying all the wealth, Bhima returned to Indraprastha and filled the treasury. 

Read about Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva’s conquests.