This story is from the Mahabharata. The oldest Kaurava, Duryodhana built a wax palace and invited the Pandavas to stay in the palace. He wanted to burn down the palace, thereby killing the Pandavas. However, the Pandavas escaped. Knowing their life was in danger they lived in disguise for a few years.

The five Pandavas, along with their mother Kunti, were hiding in the town of Ekachakra because their evil cousins tried to kill them. They disguised themselves and lived in the house of one of the residents.

One day, Kunti heard a wail from inside the house. She looked inside the room to find the whole family crying. She went and asked them, “What is ailing you? Why are you crying?”

Hearing this, the man of the house said, “A giant rakshasa named Baka lives in the forest outside our town. Since our King has no interest in protecting our town, we made a deal with Baka. He is responsible for safeguarding Ekachakra from enemies, human or otherwise. In exchange, we have agreed to send a person along with a cartload of food each week. Baka eats everything sent to him, including the human who takes the food. If one of us ignores our turn, Baka comes and eats the entire family. We are in despair as to what to do.”

Hearing this, Kunti said, “Do not worry. You have done us a massive favor by allowing us to live in your house. The only way we can repay you is if you allow one of my sons to take your place.”

The man said, “I cannot allow you to sacrifice your son for me. Saving my life by sacrificing another will be a huge sin.”

Kunti replied, “Do not worry. My son is mighty and powerful, who has killed many rakshasas. He will defeat Baka and free this town from his atrocities. But please ensure you do not tell about this to anyone. We prefer to remain anonymous.”

The man promised Kunti and thanked her profusely.

Kunti called Bheema. “Take the cartload of food to Baka and slay him.”

Bheema was excited. He was looking forward to defeating Baka. It had been a long time since he had been in a fight.

That night, Bheema went to the forest with the food. He reached the designated place, and while waiting for Baka, Bheema got hungry.

“Baka is anyway not going to be eating this food since I am going to kill him. Why waste it? I might as well eat while I wait for him to come,” thought Bheema. So, Bheema started eating the food relishing it.

Suddenly, the ground started shaking. Bheema immediately knew that rakshasa, Baka was on his way. Acting unconcerned, Bheema continued eating.

Baka was enraged. He was expecting a human scared out of his wits awaiting his death. Instead, he saw a man unafraid and eating the food brought for him.

“How dare you?” he roared. “How dare you eat my food?”

Bheema did not reply and continued eating. Incensed, Baka uprooted a tree and threw it on Bheema. Bheema caught the tree with one hand and continued eating with the other. Baka hit Bheema with his fist, but nothing happened. Finally, after emptying the food meant for Baka, Bheema got up from the cart.

Baka asked, “Who are you? And how dare you eat my food? I am going to kill you and happily feed on you.”

To this, Bheema laughed and responded, “You can try. But you will never succeed.”

So began a massive fight between Bheema and Baka. They hit each other for hours, and finally, Bheema defeated Baka by breaking his back. He took Baka’s body and threw it near the edge of the town without anyone noticing.

The next morning, the people of Ekachakra were in for a surprise. The dreaded Baka was dead. They wondered who could have done that. They went to the house of the man who was supposed to take the food cart the previous night.

Sticking to the promise he made Kunti, the man did not mention Bheema. Instead, he said, “A relative of mine was passing by yesterday. Seeing my plight, he offered to take my place. It must have been he who defeated Baka. But he has already gone back to his home.”

The people of Ekachakra praised the man that killed Bakasura and blessed him for saving the man and celebrated. The Pandavas continued to live in Ekachakra in disguise until it was time to move to another place.