Pandavas Depart from Hastinapura into Exile

Krishna Vasudeva had departed. The dice game was finished, the kingdom lost, the thirteen years of exile set. There was nothing left to do but leave. Yudhishthira, Bhimasena, Arjuna, Nakula, Sahadeva, Draupadi, and their priest Dhaumya ascended chariots that were extremely expensive and yoked to supreme horses. The warriors looked like Bhutapati himself — the lord of beings — as they prepared to ride out. Before they left, they gave golden coins, garments, and cattle to those who were learned in the scriptures and mantras. Twenty armed servants followed behind them, carrying bows, shields, yellow arrows, bowstrings, and implements. Indrasena — a trusted servant — collected Draupadi's garments, her nurses, her maidservants, and her ornaments into another chariot and followed. Then the citizens came. They gathered around the best of the Kurus with dejected minds, circumambulating him in farewell. The brahmanas pronounced their blessings. The chiefs of Kurujangala came forward. Yudhishthira, with his brothers beside him, greeted them all back — happy, composed, standing there for some time to see the great numbers of people who had come. The great-souled bull among the Kurus felt for them the way a father feels for his sons. And they felt for him the way sons feel for a father. They approached in large numbers and stood around the chief of the Kurus. They lamented — crying out "Oh, Protector!" and "Oh, dharma!" — tears rolling down their shamed faces. "You are the supreme lord of the Kurus and we are your subjects," they said. "O Dharmaraja! Where are you going, leaving all the inhabitants of the cities and the countryside, like a father deserting his sons? Shame on the cruel-minded son of Dhritarashtra! Shame on the evil-minded Soubala and Karna! Those evil ones wish for destruction. O Indra among men! You are always devoted to dharma, but they harm you. O great-souled one! You yourself established a great and unmatched city that is as radiant as a city of the gods — Shatakratuprastha, unfailing in deeds. O Dharmaraja! You are ours — and where are you going, leaving us and that? Great-souled Maya built an unmatched sabha (assembly hall) for you that was like the sabhas of the gods — full of divine maya and divine mysteries. O Dharmaraja! You are ours — and where are you going, leaving us and that?" Then Arjuna spoke. Energetic Bibhatsu — learned in dharma, kama, and artha — raised his voice to the gathering. "The king will make his home in the forest so as to rob the enemies of all their fame. With the brahmanas at the forefront, separately and collectively, let all the ascetics approach us and bless us. Let those who are learned in dharma and artha exactly tell us how we will attain our supreme success." When these words were uttered, all the brahmanas and all the varnas (social orders) were delighted and rejoiced. They circumambulated the one who was supreme among all those who uphold dharma. They said farewell to Partha, Vrikodara, Dhananjaya, Yajnaseni, and the twins. Then they took Yudhishthira's permission and sorrowfully returned to the kingdom — to wherever they lived.