Dhananjaya

Bhima has just finished lashing into Yudhishthira for his weakness at the dice game, for dragging them all into exile. Yudhishthira does not argue back. He explains what Bhima did not see: the dice were controlled by Shakuni's maya (illusion), and he gave his solemn word before the entire assembly of Kurus. Breaking that promise, he tells Bhima, would be worse than death — and dharma is worth more than any kingdom.

Yudhishthira sits in the forest, weighed down by exile and loss, when the ancient sage Markandeya finds him. Instead of empty comfort, Markandeya offers a series of comparisons — Rama’s endurance in the wilderness, Indra’s victories won through allies, and the Pandavas’ own recent rescue of Draupadi from Jayadratha — to argue that Yudhishthira has no reason to despair.