Bhima and Dhoumya

After a happy stay in Khandavaprastha, Krishna decides to return to Dvaraka to see his father. He takes formal and affectionate leave from each of the Pandavas, Kunti, and Draupadi, performing all the proper rituals before his departure. The Pandavas escort him out, their hearts unsatisfied, watching until his chariot disappears from sight.

Yudhishthira, restless after hearing tales of legendary kings and their sacrifices, becomes consumed by the desire to perform the rajasuya. He consults his advisers and brothers, who unanimously declare him worthy of the imperial rite. He accepts their encouragement in his heart, but his prudence leads him to seek one final, impartial counsel.

Krishna, Bhima, and Arjuna return to Indraprastha and report their victory to Yudhishthira. After honoring the freed kings and giving them leave, Krishna takes his departure from the Pandava family, his mission accomplished.

Krishna arrives in Indraprastha with an army and a fortune, lighting up the city. Yudhishthira meets him with honor and makes a formal, public request: for Krishna's permission and his presence as the central figure of the impending sacrifice.

As the Pandavas prepare to walk into the forest, Vidura intervenes. He offers sanctuary to their aged mother, Kunti, then delivers a fierce, poetic exhortation: reminding the brothers of their unique strengths, their divine teachers, and the elemental virtues they must embody to survive and return victorious.

Dhritarashtra, blind and anxious, asks Vidura to describe how the Pandavas are leaving for the forest. Vidura details each brother's and Draupadi's symbolic gesture, translating their silent actions into a forecast of future war and vengeance.

Yudhishthira is tormented: brahmanas have followed him into exile, but he has nothing to give them. He cannot abandon them, yet he cannot sustain them. He goes to his priest Dhoumya and asks what the right course of action is.

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.

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.

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.

Yudhishthira resolves to leave Kamyaka forest and begin the pilgrimage to the sacred tirthas. Before they can depart, Vyasa, Narada, and Parvata appear — three of the most powerful sages in existence — and give them instructions that go beyond mere travel: purify your minds, control your bodies, and go with friendship in your hearts. The Pandavas receive their blessings and, at the auspicious moment, set out eastward with their servants and chariots.

Yudhishthira sets out north with his brothers, Draupadi, the brahmanas, Lomasha, and the rakshasas including Hidimba's son. They travel partly on foot and partly carried by the rakshasas, crossing mountains and difficult terrain, until on the seventeenth day they reach the sacred hermitage of the rajarshi Vrishaparva near Gandhamadana.

After leaving Vrishaparva, the Pandavas proceed on foot through a region teeming with animals, reaching Mount Shveta on the fourth day and then Mount Malyavan. They climb higher into Gandhamadana, a mountain so beautiful it resembles the pleasure garden of the gods, filled with every kind of tree, flower, bird, and pond.

Yudhishthira and his brothers, wandering in exile on Gandhamadana mountain, come before an ascetic sage who already knows them. The sage questions Yudhishthira’s adherence to dharma, describes the wonders and dangers of the mountain, and warns him not to venture beyond a certain point — or the rakshasas will kill him.

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.

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.

Nahusha discards his serpent body and ascends to heaven. Yudhishthira returns to the hermitage with Bhima and Dhoumya, and tells the assembled brahmanas, his brothers, and Draupadi everything that happened. They are astounded — and overjoyed.

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.

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.

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.

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.