Bakasura is a Rakshasa who appears as a character in the Mahabharata.

A gluttonous demon who lived in a cave in the forest, Bakasura had made an arrangement with the raja of the nearby city of Ekachakra, whereby the raja would send him a bullock cart loaded with food once a week. Bakasura would devour not only the food, but also the bullocks and the man who drove the cart.

The citizens of Ekachakra held a weekly lottery. The chosen household had to volunteer one of its members for the grim duty of driving the cart to Bakasura’s cave. In return, the city was spared from the ogre’s wrath.

It was around this time that Kunti and her sons the Pandavas (the five brothers who are the heroes of the epic) were wandering through the forest. They had been exiled from their homeland and were trying to keep a low profile. Near Ekachakra, they met a villager who lived with his wife and two children. He kindly welcomed the travellers into his house and let them stay on as guests.

Shortly after they arrived, it happened that their host’s household was selected by lottery to provide the weekly sacrifice to the Rakshasa. Every member of the family was willing to sacrifice themselves to spare the others; but Kunti insisted on sending one of her own sons. As guests, she said, they should be the ones responsible.

Kunti chose to send her second son, Bhim, who was the strongest of the Pandava brothers. He was also the hungriest, renowned for his gigantic appetite.

Bhim traveled to the city, loaded the cart high with provisions, and drove it towards Bakasura’s cave. But on the way, he started feeling peckish, so he decided to have a snack.