There was never any peace or amity between the five Pandava brothers and Duryodhana. From childhood, they grew up as rivals. While Duryodhana considered himself the Crown prince, Yudhishthira too never forsook his claim to Hastinapur as Pandu’s eldest son.
Bheema was, in fact, the main cause of enmity between the two sides of the Kuru family. His physical strength evoked the jealousy of Duryodhana and his brothers. If the Kaurava brothers climbed up a tree, Bheema would shake it so vigorously that they fell to the ground like a bunch of ripe fruits. He would then kick them about like balls or drag them by the hair. Being very robust, he would carry one or two Kauravas in his arms and drop them into some pool, leaving them shrieking. Not surprisingly, the Kaurava brothers never stopped plotting against him.
But the real reason for the Kauravas’ hostility was that, under the tutelage of Drona who taught them archery, they never won any accolades for their skill. Their teacher always singled out the skill of Bheema or Arjuna for praise. So Duryodhana felt that if he could somehow eliminate Bheema, half of his battle would be won. He, therefore, hatched a plot to kill him by drowning him in the Ganga. One day, Duryodhana invited Bheema for a swim in the river. Since Bheema was a voracious eater, the strategy was to first lure him to a sumptuous meal, which was poisoned, and then dump him into that part of the river which was full of deadly snakes. As Bheema became drowsy after eating the food, he was carried by Duryodhana’s brothers and thrown into the river. But fortunately for Bheema, the poisonous food he had eaten acted as an antidote to the venom of the snakes.
After floating unconsciously for a while, he regained consciousness, swam to the bank safely and headed straight for home.
Meanwhile, Yudhishthira got worried about his brother who had not returned after his swim. When he asked Duryodhana about Bheema, he feigned ignorance. Since deep down in his heart, Yudhishthira suspected some foul play, he sent his attendants to search for Bheema all around. But he was nowhere to be seen.
When he suddenly saw Bheema walking into the palace, Yudhishthira was overjoyed.
‘Where did you go after the swim?’ he asked.
He was shocked as Bheema told him how Duryodhana had plotted to poison him.
When Kunti heard the story, she realized how her sons were in constant danger. She was now convinced that Duryodhana was out to kill all of them so that he could ascend the throne of Hastinapur unopposed. Worried, she sought Vidura’s advice.
‘Duryodhana is evil,’ Vidura said. ‘He will stoop to any level to carry out his nefarious designs.’ He paused. ‘But I advise you to keep your suspicions to yourself, because if Duryodhana gets any inkling about it, he will hatch some other plot. You should, however, remain alert, of course. Eternal vigilance is the way to security. But there should be no cause for worry because your sons are blessed by the gods. No harm will ever come to them.’ So advised, Kunti asked Yudhishthira to remain alert without giving any cause for suspicion to Duryodhana.
When Duryodhana heard about Bheema’s safe return, he was greatly surprised. It was like a dead man returning to life. But he was also pleased that nobody had suspected him or his brothers. In fact, in order to camouflage his guilt, he hurried to Yudhishthira to express his happiness over Bheema’s safe return home.