A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.265.3

c5.265.3

In the second exile of the Pāndavas, they went to the Rāja of Virāta, whose service they entered. Bhīma, holding a ladle in one hand and a sword in the other, undertook the duties of cook; but he soon exhibited his prowess by fighting with and killing a famous wrestler named Jīmūta. Draupadī had entered into the service of the queen as a waiting-maid, and attracted the admiration of the king's brother-in-law, Kīchaka. When she rejected his advances, he insulted and brutally assaulted her. Her husbands did not seem disposed to avenge her, so she appealed to Bhīma, as she was wont when she sought revenge. Draupadī made an assignation with Kīchaka, which Bhīma kept, and after a sharp struggle with the disappointed gallant, he broke his bones to atoms, and made his body into a large ball of flesh, so that no one could tell how he had been killed or who had killed him. Draupadī was judged to have had a share in his death, and was condemned to be burnt alive; but Bhīma drew his hair over his face, so that no one could recognise him, and, tearing up a large tree for a club, he rushed to the rescue. He was taken for a mighty Gandharva, the crowd fled, and Draupadī was released. Kīchaka had been the general of the forces of Virāta and the mainstay of the king. After his death, Su-sarman, king of Trigartta, aided and abetted by the Kauravas and others, determined to attack Virāta.