Krishna and Allies Depart from Kamyaka Forest
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 finished speaking. The mighty-armed Supreme Being, Madhusudana, had told the Pandavas everything he had come to say. Now he prepared to leave.
He paid his respects to Dharmaraja Yudhishthira. The king and Bhima both inhaled the fragrance of his head — the traditional gesture of honor between close kin. Krishna asked Subhadra and Abhimanyu to ascend his golden chariot. The Pandavas showed him every homage, and then Krishna climbed aboard. The chariot had the radiance of the sun; Sainya and Sugriva were yoked to it. He comforted Yudhishthira one last time and set out for Dvaraka.
When Dasharha — Krishna — had gone, Dhrishtadyumna, the son of Prishata, took Draupadi's sons with him and left for his own city. Dhrishtaketu, the king of Chedi, took his sister with him and departed for the beautiful city of Shuktimati. The Kekayas also took their leave from the infinitely energetic Kounteya, paid their respects to all the Pandavas, and departed.
Then Yudhishthira turned to the brahmanas and the vaishyas who had been living with them in the forest. He urged them repeatedly to go — to return to their own homes, to the safety of cities and towns. They refused. They would not abandon the Pandavas.
Those great-souled ones remained in Kamyaka, and the crowd that surrounded them was large and extraordinary. Honoring the brahmanas, Yudhishthira gave up pressing them. In due course, he instructed his servants to yoke the chariots. The exile would continue. Aranyaka Parva, Chapter 320