The Growing years of the Pandavas

The Pandavas came to live in their father's palace in Hastinapur, after the death of their father in the forest. Their mother Kunti looked after them and they started growing under the care of their grandfather Bheeshma. The boys learnt the art of warfare and politics and the ways to govern their kingdom. They learnt how to use various weapons and were experts in running, archery, wrestling, and forms of warfare. There was a lot of competition amongst the boys and they regularly competed with their cousins, the Kauravas. Bheema, among the Pandavas was the most powerful and used to compete against Duryoudhana, the eldest of the Kauravas, regularly. He did it as a form of healthy competition but Duryoudhana was extremely jealous of Bheema and hated him for his guts and power. Bheema could easily defeat all the boys in whatever sport they participated. When the boys climbed the trees to pluck fruits Bheema would shake the whole tree from the trunk as a result of which all the fruits as well as the children would fall off the branches. He would hold two or three of his brothers and give them a good dunking in the water. He would wrestle with them and easily defeat them. No one could defeat Bheema in anything however much they tried. This made Duryoudhana extremely jealous and he continuously planned to harm Bheema. Due to this scheming and bitter thoughts, greed and envy, Duryoudhana became a bitter child. His hatred for Bheema grew and he could only see faults in his cousin. He always schemed to harm the Pandavas and dreamed of defeating them and rule upon the earth.