Bhimsen was the son of Pandu (the valiant king of Hastinapur) and Kunti. Powerful Bhima was the second eldest son of the Pandavas after Yudhishthir. Once, King Pandu was wandering in the forest. There, a Sage named Kimidem was with his wife both of whom were in the form of male and female deer enjoying carnal pleasures. The hind died with the arrow shot by Pandu. The Sage got very angry and cursed Pandu that the moment Pandu will try to mate with a woman, he will die. That is why; Pandu was not capable of producing children.Later, with a desire to bear a child, Kunti with the power of the charm given by Saint Durvasa, summoned for Dharmaraj (The Lord of Dharma), Vayu (The Lord of wind) and Indra (The lord of devtas in Heaven). From Dharmaraj, Yudhishthir was born, Bhima from Vayu and Arjun was born from Indra.

Extremely powerful Bhima was an expert in mace fight. He had learnt this art from Krishna’s elder brother Balram . Dhritrashta’s son Duryodhan always envied Bhima. When they were young, Duryodhan once poisoned Bhima and got him thrown in the river. But when the snakes bit him in the river, the effect of the first poison given by Duryodhan went off. Later, Nagraj gave nectar to Bhima to drink and awarded him the strength of ten thousand elephants. Similarly, when Duryodhan and his uncle Shakuni planned a conspiracy to kill the Pandavas in the Lakshagriha, Bhima with his strength made a way out of the Lakshagriha and saved his mother Kunti, four brothers and himself.

With his brothers, he was married to Draupadi, who give birth to a son by him by the name Sutasoma. The child that Draupadi bore to Bhima was born after Bhima had performed a thousand Soma Sacrifices; he came to be called Sutasoma. Bhima also for obtaining wife Valandhara, the daughter of the King of Kasi, offered his own prowess as dowry and begot upon her a son named Sarvaga. King of Chedi, Dhristaketu's sister also was wedded to Bhima.

While gambling with the Kauravas, due to Shakuni’s fraud, Pandavas lost their state and wealth and even lost Draupadi in the game. Then, Dushasan, the younger brother of Duryodhan tried to disrobe Draupadi and Duryodhan made an obscene reference by asking Draupadi to sit on his lap. Bhima got very angry and vowed to drink Dushasan’s blood and also break his thighs in the war. Due to the defeat in gambling, the Pandavas had to go for twelve years of exile. During their stay in the forest, Hidimba, sister of demon Hidimba got fascinated with Bhima and expressed her desire to marry Bhima. But Hidimba opposed this decision. Then Bhima killed Hidimba and got married to Hidimba. With his marriage, Ghatotkach was born who was very strong and had illusive powers. In the war of Mahabharata, Ghatatkoch fought gallantly from the side of the Pandavas and was killed my Karna. There is one and only one temple of Hidimba in Manali, Himachal Pradesh.

After their stay in the forest was over, the Pandavas had to live incognito for one year. During their stay of living incognito, Bhima, worked as a cook named Vallabh at King Viraat’s palace. There, Viraat’s brother- in- law and army chief Kichak tried to molest Draupadi. Bhima got very angry and killed him.

Along with mace fight, Bhima was also an expert in wrestling. When Yudhishthir expressed his wish to organize Raj Surya Yagya, Shri Krishna informed him that Jarasandh, the oppressor King of Magadh had many Kings as his captive and after killing them, he wanted to become the biggest king. Raj Surya Yagya can not be completed without killing Jarasandh. Then Bhima killed Jarasandh while wrestling and freed the kings in the prison and gifted the chariot of Ashwamedh to Krishna.

Bhima was a great general in the great battle of Kurukshetra, second in command only to the generalissimo Dhrishtdhyumna, killing six out of the eleven Akshauhinis ( an ancient battle formation that consisted of 21,870 chariots 21,870 elephants; 65,610 horse-mounted warriors and 109,350 infantry ) of the other side (Kauravas). Six Akshauhinis adds up to the astronomical figure of around 1,705,860 men and 787,320 beasts which is testimony to the portrayal as the character of supreme physical prowess. At the end of the war, during the mace fight with Duryodhan, he broke Duryodhan’s thighs and fulfilled his second oath. Bhima had a very big and important share in the victory of Pandavas in the war of Mahabharata. Amongst the most important personalities that he quelled were Baka (head of a cannibalistic race), Kirmira (Baka's brother), Maniman (leader of the anger-demons in Kuber's garden), Jarasandh, and Dushasan. He also defeated mighty Dronacharya by breaking his chariot eight times. During the battle, he killed the elephant Ashwathama, which enabled the Pandavas to spread the falsehood that Ashwathama, son of Drona, had been killed. In the mythological stories, Bhima is said to be the symbol of strength, valour and heroism and Akbar compared him with the powerful western mythological character Hercules.

After the Mahabharata, He finished his days with his brothers and Draupadi, on their great and final journey toward Vaikunth. He was the last to die on the journey, leaving Yudhishthir alone to complete the journey by himself.

While he did possess superhuman strength, he has been portrayed as a man with no lenience for duplicity or tact in many cases - he is portrayed as the only Pandava who constantly pointed out the faults of others, even if they were older or much respected. Being highly sensitive, he swayed between extreme emotions of love and hatred. Draupadi is often seen to turn to him to salvage her honor (be it in the case of Duryodhan's defeat or in the case of Kichak's slaying). Bhima is by far the most important character in the war of Mahabharata.