Arjuna and Bhima

Envious of their cousins' power, Duryodhana and his allies try to kill the Pandavas through poison, drowning, and a burning house. The brothers survive, win a bride, conquer the world, and are then deceived into exile. Their return triggers a war that leaves them victorious over a depopulated kingdom.

Following Kunti's instruction, Madri invokes the twin Ashvins and gives birth to Nakula and Sahadeva, completing the set of five sons for Pandu. A divine voice proclaims the twins' future greatness, and the sages perform the birth rites, naming all five brothers who will one day shape the fate of the Kuru dynasty.

Drona tests his students' focus by setting up an artificial bird in a tree and asking each to shoot its head. One by one, Yudhishthira, Duryodhana, and Bhima fail, saying they can see the tree, the teacher, and their brothers. Then it is Arjuna's turn.

Tormented by Bhima's strength, Arjuna's skill, and the citizens' open praise for the Pandavas, Duryodhana burns with a jealousy that curdles into conspiracy. With Karna and Shakuni, he attempts to kill his cousins through various secret means.

Ordered to Varanavata, the Pandavas prepare to leave Hastinapura. They pay their respects to the elders and bid a painful farewell to the citizens. A group of Brahmanas, outraged by the injustice, declare they will abandon the city to follow Yudhishthira into exile.

After a year of pretending to be content in the flammable house built to kill them, Yudhishthira decides the time to escape has come. The Pandavas set the trap on fire themselves, leaving their would-be murderer Purochana to burn, and vanish into the night through a secret tunnel. The citizens of Varanavata wake to the blaze and mourn, believing Duryodhana has finally succeeded in murdering his cousins.

Having narrowly escaped the burning lac-house, the Pandavas flee into a dense, terrifying forest. Exhausted and thirsty, they can go no further until Bhima uses his immense strength to clear a path, carry his mother, and swim across rivers to find them shelter.

Returning with water, Bhima finds his royal mother and brothers asleep on the bare ground, exhausted by their flight. Overcome with grief at their fallen state, he resolves to stay awake and guard them through the dangerous night.

The rakshasa Hidimba arrives at the Pandavas' forest camp, furious that his sister desires Bhima. He threatens to kill her and the sleeping humans. Bhima taunts him, provokes a fight, and drags the demon away to protect his family.

Bhima is locked in a brutal grapple with the rakshasa Hidimba. Arjuna, watching, urges his brother to finish the fight quickly before dawn, when rakshasas grow stronger. Spurred on, Bhima crushes his foe and rips his body apart.

The Pandavas and their mother wake to find a woman of divine beauty standing before them. When Kunti asks who she is, the rakshasi Hidimba reveals she was sent by her brother to kill them—but upon seeing Bhima, she chose him as her husband instead.

Living in disguise in a Brahmana's house, the Pandavas hear a report that pierces them with sorrow and robs them of peace. Kunti advises they have overstayed their welcome and should seek a new refuge in the generous kingdom of Panchala. They salute their host and depart, setting their path toward Drupada's city and the events that await them there.

Vyasa, the great sage and grandfather of the Pandavas, comes to see them while they are living in hiding. The exiled princes rush to greet him with profound respect. He returns their affection and speaks to them of the path they must follow.

With the enraged kings charging to kill him, a terrified Drupada seeks refuge among the Brahmanas. The two Brahmin brothers who won the contest—Bhima and Arjuna—step forward not as priests, but as warriors, to defend the king.

After winning Draupadi, Arjuna and Bhima are mobbed by celebrating Brahmanas and are late returning to the hut where their mother Kunti waits. Filled with anxious thoughts of recognition, murder, or rakshasas, she fears the worst until her sons finally enter in the late afternoon, safe and triumphant.

Kunti, without looking, tells her sons to "share together" the alms they have brought — which is Draupadi. Now bound by their mother's inadvertent command, the Pandavas must find a way to obey without committing adharma (unrighteousness). Yudhishthira makes a decision that will define their household forever.

After the swayamvara, Dhrishtadyumna secretly follows the disguised archer and his brother to a potter's house. Hiding outside, he watches their evening rituals and overhears their warrior's talk, piecing together the truth. He hurries back to his anxious father, King Drupada, who desperately hopes the winner is the man he believes to be long dead.

Having received the Sun's boon, Yudhishthira arises from the water and returns to his family. He cooks the forest fare himself — and it multiplies, becoming inexhaustible. He feeds the brahmanas first, then his brothers, then eats the remainder with Draupadi. Blessed and provisioned, the Pandavas set out for Kamyaka forest.

Sanjaya finds Vidura seated with Yudhishthira and the Pandavas in the Kamyaka forest and delivers Dhritarashtra's plea. Vidura takes leave of the Pandavas and returns to Hastinapura, where Dhritarashtra embraces him, asks forgiveness, and the two brothers are reconciled.

Vidura recounts how the exiled Pandavas entered the Kamyaka forest at midnight, when rakshasas roam. They are confronted by Kirmira, brother of Baka and friend of Hidimba, who vows to avenge them both. Bhima fights him with a tree, then with his bare hands, and kills the rakshasa, freeing the forest of his terror.

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.

Exiled from their kingdom, Yudhishthira tells his brothers they must find a place to live for twelve years. Arjuna proposes the lake of Dvaitavana — a beautiful, pure place frequented by virtuous men. Yudhishthira agrees, and the Pandavas travel there with a host of brahmanas, arriving at the end of the hot season to establish their new home.

While living in exile along the Sarasvati, the Pandavas receive a visit from the ancient rishi Markandeya. When Yudhishthira notices the sage smiling, he asks why — and receives a discourse on dharma that spans the ages, from Rama to the elephants of the forest.

Seated in the forest with her husbands, Draupadi watches them suffer in silence while Duryodhana celebrates in the city. She turns to Yudhishthira and begins to speak — not to console, but to question why a king who can destroy his enemies feels no anger at seeing his brothers and his wife reduced to rags and mud.

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.

Dhritarashtra finishes his lament. Sanjaya confirms everything the king said is true — then recounts the causes of the Pandavas' wrath: Draupadi brought into the assembly hall, Duhshasana's and Karna's terrible words, Arjuna's encounter with Sthanu in the hunter's disguise, and Bhima's vow to smash Duryodhana's thighs. The Parthas, he concludes, are invincible even to the gods.

Dhritarashtra, sighing deeply, summons Sanjaya and confesses his terror: the Pandavas, allied with the Vrishnis and Panchalas, will destroy his sons in battle. He describes their invincible strength and laments that he was too obedient to Duryodhana to listen to his well-wishers.

Sanjaya reports to Dhritarashtra that after the Pandavas' defeat at dice, Krishna and their allies visited them in Kamyaka forest. Krishna vowed to kill Duryodhana and his allies, but Yudhishthira insisted on keeping his thirteen-year vow. The assembled warriors then pledged to Draupadi that her oppressors would be destroyed when the time came.

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.

Janamejaya asks how his ancestors lived in the forest after Arjuna left. Vaishampayana describes the Pandavas' joyless existence — they perform sacrifices, collect forest fare for brahmanas, and live anxious and unhappy, like jewels fallen from a broken string.

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.

Having resolved their course, the Pandavas arrive at the prosperous kingdom of Subahu, lord of the kunindas. They are welcomed, hosted, and then — leaving their servants and retinue behind — they set out on foot toward the Himalayas, driven by the single hope of seeing Arjuna.

Bhima longs to see Arjuna, who has been on Mount Gandhamadana performing austerities. The group resolves to follow him — but the mountain is no ordinary place. It is guarded by yakshas and rakshasas, and only those who have mastered themselves can survive the journey.

Four years of forest exile have passed. Yudhishthira remembers Arjuna's promise to return in the fifth year to the white-topped mountain peak. He assembles his brothers and Draupadi, announces the plan to go to Gandhamadana to meet Arjuna, and consults the brahmanas and ascetics, who approve the journey and bless it.

While the Pandavas are thinking of Arjuna, Indra's chariot driven by Matali suddenly appears in the sky, carrying Arjuna. He descends, pays respects to Dhoumya, Yudhishthira, Bhima, and Draupadi, is worshipped by Nakula and Sahadeva, and the Pandavas honor Matali before he departs. Arjuna presents the gifts from Indra, recounts his acquisition of weapons from Indra, Vayu, and Shiva, and his entry into heaven, then happily goes to sleep with his brothers.

The Pandavas, having established themselves on Mount Gandhamadana, are waiting for Arjuna to return from obtaining divine weapons from Indra. They live on the mountain, performing austerities, rituals, and yoga, while constantly thinking of Arjuna and counting every day and night as a year in his absence. A month passes in melancholy; the Pandavas remain in grief-stricken waiting, their happiness absent since Arjuna left Kamyaka forest.

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.

Having resolved to leave, Yudhishthira bids farewell to the houses, rivers, lakes, and rakshasas of Gandhamadana — and vows to return after victory. Ghatotkacha carries the Pandavas and their brahmanas across mountains and waterfalls as they depart, guided by Lomasha and instructed by the sage Arshtishena.

Coiled by the serpent Nahusha and unable to move, Bhima accepts his fate without anger — but his mind turns not to his own death, but to the sorrow it will bring his brothers and his mother, who will lose their protector in this wilderness.

Yudhishthira sees terrible omens — a blazing sky, a howling she-jackal, a deformed quail vomiting blood — and his own body trembles with foreboding. When he asks where Bhima is, Draupadi tells him his brother has been gone a long time. He follows the trail of broken trees to a mountainous cavern, where he finds Bhima immobile in a serpent's grasp.

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.

A brahmana skilled in storytelling visits the Pandavas in their forest exile, then travels to Dhritarashtra's court. When the aged king asks for news, the brahmana describes what he has seen — the princes emaciated by wind and sun, Draupadi suffering as though unprotected despite her husbands' presence — and Dhritarashtra is flooded with compassion.

Dhritarashtra, hearing the brahmana's report, is overcome with grief and self-reproach. He describes each Pandava's suffering in detail — Yudhishthira sleeping on bare ground, Bhima's restrained rage, Arjuna's sleepless anger, the twins' wretchedness — and reflects on the inevitability of destiny and the futility of deeds. His words are secretly overheard by Duryodhana, Shakuni, and Karna, who become disturbed and unhappy.

The gandharva king Chitrasena sees his forces routed by Arjuna's arrows and charges at him with a mace. Arjuna shatters the weapon mid-air. Chitrasena turns invisible and fights with maya (illusion). Arjuna counters with divine weapons, including the shabdabheda weapon that tracks sound. When Chitrasena is pierced and revealed, Arjuna recognizes his friend and withdraws — and the battle ends.

Kotikashya, the foremost of the Shibis, arrives at the hermitage and asks a question — but finds only Draupadi there, alone in the forest. With no one else to reply, she must speak for herself, revealing who she is, naming her five husbands, and explaining where they have gone.

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.

The Pandavas return from their hunt to find their hermitage empty and their maid weeping. A jackal howls on their left — an omen of disaster. When Indrasena questions the maid, she learns the truth: Jayadratha has abducted Draupadi while they were away, and the trail is still fresh.

The Pandavas follow the fresh trail of Jayadratha's army, seeing the dust raised by the hooves of his horses. Dhoumya urges Bhima to attack. When they see Draupadi standing on Jayadratha's chariot, their rage flares — and they call out to the king of Sindhu to stop.

Jayadratha has fled only one krosha when Bhima and Arjuna catch up. Arjuna kills his horses from a distance with divine weapons, leaving the king of Sindhu stranded and terrified. Jayadratha tries to flee into the forest on foot, and Arjuna taunts him — but when Bhima rushes at him shouting for blood, it is Arjuna who holds him back.

Seeing his army destroyed, Jayadratha frees Draupadi and flees into the forest. Yudhishthira orders Nakula to pick her up, and Bhima wants to slaughter the remaining soldiers — but Arjuna stops him. Bhima vows to kill Jayadratha even if he escapes to the nether regions. Yudhishthira objects, citing Duhshala and Gandhari. But Draupadi, angry and unashamed, demands the wretch's death.

Jayadratha orders his allied kings to stand firm and attack. The warriors from Shibi, Sindhu, Trigarta, and Souvira face the five Pandavas — and are decimated. Bhima kills Kotikashya with a javelin. Arjuna slays twelve from Souvira with his arrows. Nakula cuts off an elephant's trunk and tusks with his sword. Headless torsos litter the battlefield, and the survivors are routed.

Exhausted and thirsty in the forest, the Pandava brothers begin to reflect on their calamities. Bhima, Arjuna, and Sahadeva each state that their present suffering is the consequence of a moment when they failed to act — when they had the chance to kill Duryodhana, Karna, and Shakuni, and did not.