Bhima and Jayadratha

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.

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.