Bhimasena and Maya

Saved from the burning Khandava forest, the asura architect Maya offers Arjuna a gift: a divine assembly hall for the Pandavas. He describes the treasures he will retrieve—a supreme club for Bhima and the conch Devadatta for Arjuna—and sets off to the north-east to begin his work.

Maya travels to the sacred peaks near Kailasha, retrieves the club, conch, and crystal treasures, and then marshals his rakshasa servants to construct a matchless, jewel-encrusted assembly hall. In fourteen months, a divine sabha stands complete, and Maya presents the weapons to Bhima and Arjuna.

Pressed by his father, Duryodhana confesses that his misery comes from seeing Yudhishthira's supreme prosperity. He recounts, in raw detail, the humiliations he suffered at the Pandava palace: mistaking crystal for water, falling into a pond, and hitting his head on a door, all while their laughter echoed around him.