Krishna

Krishna's rage blazes so fiercely that it seems he will consume all beings. Arjuna, witnessing this, begins to recite the deeds Krishna performed in his earlier bodies — austerities that lasted millennia, victories over asuras, cosmic manifestations that encompass the universe itself. He speaks until the anger subsides.

News reaches the Bhojas, Vrishnis, Andhakas, Panchalas, and the kings of Chedi and Kekaya that the Pandavas are suffering in exile. They assemble and ride to the forest, placing Vasudeva at their head. When they arrive, they censure Dhritarashtra's sons and ask a single question: what should be done?

Draupadi approaches Krishna and begins to recount everything — the poisoning of Bhima, the burning of the lac house, the killing of Hidimba and Baka, her own svayamvara. She censures the Pandavas for tolerating her molestation, names each of her five sons, and declares that her grief over Karna's laughter will never be pacified.

After Arjuna's recitation, Krishna speaks directly to him. He declares that they are the rishis Nara and Narayana, that they are identical — "You are mine and I am yours" — and that no difference exists between them. The kings become agitated at this revelation, and Draupadi approaches to seek refuge.

Draupadi weeps and covers her face, declaring that her grief over Karna's laughter will never be pacified. Krishna swears that the wives of her enemies will weep as she has wept, and that she will be queen of kings — a promise that cannot be falsified even if the heavens fall. Dhrishtadyumna then declares the specific fates of Drona, Bhishma, Duryodhana, and Karna.

Krishna arrives in the forest and tells Yudhishthira that everything that happened — the gambling, the loss of the kingdom, the exile — could have been prevented if he had been present. He describes exactly what he would have done: spoken gently first, then used force. His absence from Dvaraka, he says, was the single cause of all their misfortunes.

Yudhishthira asks Krishna why he was absent after the gambling match. Krishna reveals that while Yudhishthira was losing everything in Hastinapura, he was fighting a war of his own — against Shalva, who had attacked Dvaraka in revenge for Shishupala's death, riding a flying city called Soubha.

Enraged by Shishupala's death at the rajasuya, Shalva rides the flying city Soubha to Dvaraka while Krishna is away. He slaughters Vrishni youth, burns the parks, and shouts abuse at the absent Krishna — swearing he will not return without killing him.

Yudhishthira is not satisfied with what he has heard about the destruction of Soubha. He asks Krishna Vasudeva to tell him the whole story in detail. Krishna begins: when Shalva heard that King Shroutashrava had been killed, he marched on Dvaravati and laid siege to it from the air.

Shalva, unable to tolerate Pradyumna's penetration from the right, attacks the charioteer Daruki and then Pradyumna himself. Pradyumna counters every weapon Shalva throws at him — including the terrible maya of the asuras — and strikes him unconscious. But when he nocks a supreme arrow to finish the king of Soubha, the gods themselves intervene.

Krishna returns to Dvaraka after Yudhishthira's rajasuya sacrifice and finds the city robbed of its splendour — recitations ceased, women bereft of ornaments. He asks Hridika's son what happened, learns of Shalva's siege, reassures the citizens and Vrishni chiefs, and vows to kill Shalva before he will set foot in Dvaraka again.

Krishna travels through many countries and reaches Marttikavata, only to learn Shalva has already left the city on Soubha. He follows him to the bay of the ocean, finds the flying city hovering above the waves, and engages in battle — but his arrows from Sharnga fail to reach Soubha, while Shalva rains thousands of arrows on Krishna's soldiers, chariot, and horses until they become invisible under the barrage.

Shalva, seeing his danava followers fall, turns to the full force of his maya — hurling iron clubs, mountain peaks, and creating illusions of night and day, cold and heat. Krishna meets each illusion with his own, scattering Shalva's arrows with the prajna weapon and restoring light to the battlefield.

Shalva rises into the sky and rains down a storm of weapons on Krishna. As Krishna wards them off, a messenger arrives from Dvaraka with devastating news: Shalva has attacked the city and killed Shura's son. Then Krishna sees his own father falling from the sky — and for a moment, the greatest warrior of the age is shattered.

Yudhishthira asks Krishna why he could not attend the Rajasuya sacrifice. Krishna answers by describing his battle with King Shalva and the flying city Soubha — a city that could vanish, reappear, and confound the eyes. He fought it with sound-seeking arrows, shattered mountains with the vajra weapon, and finally destroyed Soubha with the Sudarshana chakra, cutting Shalva in two.

Krishna finishes his long narration and prepares to leave the Pandavas in the Kamyaka forest. He takes Subhadra and Abhimanyu onto his chariot and departs for Dvaraka, followed by Dhrishtadyumna, Dhrishtaketu, and the Kekayas taking their own leave. But the brahmanas and vaishyas who have been living with the Pandavas refuse to abandon Yudhishthira, no matter how many times he urges them to go.

Krishna Vasudeva has left. The dice game is over. Yudhishthira, his brothers, and Draupadi prepare to leave Hastinapura for the forest — not as defeated men, but as warriors ascending expensive chariots. The citizens of Kurujangala gather around them, weeping, asking why their king would abandon them. Arjuna answers: the king will go to the forest to rob his enemies of their fame.

Janamejaya asks Vaishampayana what Dhritarashtra said upon hearing of Arjuna's extraordinary deeds. The blind king delivers a long lament to Sanjaya — cataloguing Arjuna's feats, despairing that no warrior can withstand him, and resigning himself to fate: that which is bound to happen cannot be avoided.

Blind King Dhritarashtra turns his anger on Karna, whose harsh words brought Draupadi to the assembly hall. He laments that his son Duryodhana ignores his counsel while heeding evil advisers — and that when Arjuna, Bhima, and Krishna are angered, nothing will remain of his sons.

Arjuna has departed for Indra's world to obtain divine weapons, and the Pandavas sit grieving in Kamyaka forest. Bhima can bear it no longer — he argues that they should abandon the exile, kill Dhritarashtra's sons in battle, and reclaim the kingdom now. Yudhishthira must find a way to hold his brother back without breaking his own word.

In Kamyaka forest, Draupadi tells the Pandavas that the world feels empty without Arjuna. One by one, each brother speaks — remembering his feats, his strength, the horses he won, the bride he abducted — and confesses that without him, the forest has lost all charm.

Yudhishthira, restless with grief and exile, asks Narada to describe the sacred tirthas of the land. Narada answers with a catalogue of holy places — rivers, mountains, and hermitages — each carrying its own power. He ends with Dvaravati, where Krishna dwells as the eternal dharma itself.

Yudhishthira asks the sage Lomasha about his travels. Lomasha is pleased to reply — he has been sent by Indra himself with news of Arjuna. He tells Yudhishthira that he saw Arjuna seated on half of Indra's throne, that Arjuna has obtained the Brahmashira weapon from Rudra and other divine weapons from the guardians of the world, and that he has mastered the gandharva veda. Then Lomasha delivers Indra's message: Arjuna will return after accomplishing a great task for the gods, Yudhishthira should devote himself to austerities, his fear of Karna will be dispelled, and he should accept Lomasha's guidance on tirthas.

The Vrishnis welcome the Pandavas at Prabhasa, and Balarama sees Yudhishthira — a king who followed dharma — miserable in the forest while Duryodhana prospers. The sight creates a moral paradox he cannot resolve, and he turns to Krishna with a speech that catalogues every injustice and ends with a question the earth itself seems unwilling to answer.

Krishna assures Yudhishthira that his allies will stand with him against Duryodhana — but warns that Yudhishthira will never accept a kingdom won by anyone else's strength. Yudhishthira responds by affirming that he must protect his truth more than his kingdom, and that when the time comes, Krishna himself will vanquish Duryodhana in battle.

After ten years of exile — four of them on Gandhamadana mountain with Arjuna returned — Bhima sees that Duryodhana has stolen their happiness while they wait. In private, he urges Yudhishthira to end the peaceful forest life, spend a year incognito, and then attack. Yudhishthira listens, then circumambulates Kubera's abode — and prepares to leave.

The Pandavas have settled in the Kamyaka forest, surrounded by sages, when a brahmana announces that Krishna and the ancient sage Markandeya are coming to see them. Krishna arrives on his chariot with Satyabhama, embraces Arjuna repeatedly, and hears the full account of their forest exile.

While Krishna and Yudhishthira converse, the ancient sage Markandeya arrives — aged through thousands of years of austerities. The Pandavas and brahmanas worship him, and Krishna asks him to narrate sacred accounts of the past. Narada also arrives, approves the proposal, and Markandeya asks for time to prepare.

Seated among the Pandavas, Krishna praises Yudhishthira's dharma and endurance of the assembly hall humiliation, reports that Draupadi's sons are safe and training under Abhimanyu in the Vrishni city, offers the Dasharha army led by Halayudha, and advises Yudhishthira to complete his exile before returning to Nagapura.

Yudhishthira, shaken by the vision of cosmic destruction and renewal, asks the sage Markandeya what will become of the world when dharma collapses. Markandeya answers with a prophecy of inversion and decay — where lifespans shrink to sixteen years, children beget children, and the earth is overtaken by mleccha conduct — until a brahmana named Kalki is born in Sambhala to restore the age of truth.

Yudhishthira accepts Markandeya’s words and vows to follow them. Vaishampayana reports that all the Pandavas, together with Krishna Vasudeva, heard the sage’s ancient accounts and were struck with great wonder — a moment of shared awe in the midst of exile.

The Pandavas praise Markandeya for restoring Indradyumna to heaven, but Markandeya tells them of another king saved by someone greater. Devaki's son Krishna, he says, rescued rajarshi Nriga when he had descended into hell and was in distress, and returned him to heaven.

Jayadratha dismisses Draupadi's warnings, insisting she cannot dissuade him with words alone. She declares she is not weak — that both Krishnas will follow her footsteps on a single chariot, that Indra himself cannot abduct her, and that she will see him bound and dragged by the sons of Pritha.

Stricken with grief and shame after his humiliation, Jayadratha goes to Gangadvara and performs great austerities to please Shiva. When the god grants him a boon, he asks to be able to vanquish all five Pandavas in battle. Shiva grants a modified version: Jayadratha will be able to restrain all of them — except Arjuna, who is invincible and protected by Krishna.