14.Ghatotkacha- Half Demon Half Human

Mahabharata, The greatest epic of ancient India. Mahabharata is the longest poem in the history of humankind. It is written in the Sanskrit language and consists of over 2,00,000 verses. The Mahabharata is approximately ten times of the Greek epic Iliad and Odyssey. The main storyline of this epic saga is about the two group of cousins, pandavas and Kauravas fighting for the throne. The main war of this epic is known as the war of Mahabharata.

Before move on to the story of Ghatotkacha and why he is known as the Half demon, it is significant to be acquainted with the ancestors of him. According to Mahabharata there was a kingdom named Kuru. The Hastinapur was the capital of the kingdom Kuru. Vichitravirya was the king of that mighty kingdom. He had two sons Dhitrastra the elder and Pandu the younger one. Dhitrastra was the blind from the birth. So after the death of Vichitravirya, as Dhitrastra was the blind, Pandu was crowned and became King. He had two wives Kunti and Madri. Pandu had five sons from them and they are popular as Pandavas. Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva.

On the other side, Dhitrastra had 100 sons and a daughter. The eldest son was Duryodhana. Due to the curse from some sage Pandu died. Now this was the point which leads to the war of Mahabharata. Dhitrastra was the elder brother so technically his eldest son would have become the King of throne. But as the Pandu was the last ruler of the Kingdom. Therefore, Yudhisthira had right on the throne. No one was ready to leave the kingdom. This is one of the reason the leads the cousins to the war.

Ghatotkacha was the son of Bhima and the Hidimbi. Hidimbi was a Rakshashi (Female Demon.) Once Pandavas reached to a forest where Hidimbi and his brother Hidamb was living in that forest. They ensnared people coming there and ate them. He ordered Hidimbi to lure him and kill him so they can eat his flesh. When Hidimbi saw Bhima he fell in love with his well-built physic and personality. She turned herself in beautiful woman and went to him and expressed her feelings to marry him. When Bhima approached her for marrying she revealed about what she actually is and saw him her demon form and the reason she came here. In meantime Hidamb reached there and he became furious watching her sister in arms of Bhima. He tried to kill her but Bhima came in between. They both fought and Bhima Killed him.

As Hidimbi was the Female Demon and Bhima was the Human, their son Ghatotkacha was Half human and half demon. When he was born he was bald with a giant head. He got the magical powers such as, he can be invisible, he can fly, he can increase or decrease his size and other supernatural powers, as he was half demon. It is said that the Bhima was blessed with the power of 100 elephants, it was inherited into the Ghatotkacha. Ghatotkacha was the demon but he had never devastated anything or anyone. Ghatotkacha was always humble and loyal throughout his life.

In the War of Mahabharata, Ghatotkacha played the prime role. Karna was one of the salient warrior from the side of Kauravas. Lord Indra (Lord of Light) gifted him a very powerful weapon named “Vijaya Astra” (weapon of Victory, bow), use of which definitely kill enemy. Karna were going to use that weapon on Arjuna the third brother of pandavas. At that instant Ghatotkacha came with his army of demons and started devastating Kauravas army. Meanwhile Karna used Vijaya Astra on Arjuna and to save Arjuna, Ghatotkacha took that lethal weapon on his chest and died fighting in war.

The death of Ghatotkacha was the great misfortune for the pandavas. He fought as a warrior, saved his family. He was the courageous warrior and fought till his last breath. He died at the very young age of 23. Journey of his life had been very uplifting, inspirational and difficult. People still remembers him as a great son of a great father.