Pandavas Wait for Arjuna on Gandhamadana
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.
They lived on that king of mountains. Those great-souled ones established themselves in good vows. They found pleasure and amused themselves, waiting to see Arjuna.
Those valorous ones were extremely pure in their souls, energetic and devoted to truth and fortitude. Masses of gandharvas (celestial musicians) and maharshis (great sages) were kindly disposed towards them and came to visit them. Having reached that supreme mountain, adorned with blossoming trees, the maharathas were extremely happy in their hearts, like the Maruts (storm gods) on attaining heaven.
They beheld the peaks and the ridges of that great mountain, resounding with the calls of peacocks and swans and strewn with many flowers, and felt great joy. Kubera himself tended to them. They saw on that supreme mountain streams with wooded banks and ponds full of lotuses, kadambas (a type of waterfowl), karandavas (a type of duck), and swans. There were beautiful pleasure grounds, colored and prosperous, adorned along the sides with garlands and studded with gems that please the mind, like those in the possession of the king of riches.
The peak of that mountain had many colors and was fragrant. It had large trees and was covered with masses of clouds. Though they were always devoted to austerities, when they roamed around, they could not fathom it. Because of the energy of that great mountain and the luminescence of its great herbs, no difference could be seen between night and day.
While dwelling there, those brave lions among men saw the rising and the setting of the sun — the infinitely energetic sun who lived there and nourished all beings, mobile and immobile. The brave ones saw how darkness was dispelled when the sun rose and how it returned when it had set. They saw how all the directions were enveloped in the nets spread by the rays of the sun.
They waited for the arrival of the maharatha who was truthful in his vows. They studied and always performed the rituals. They followed dharma and were pure in their vows. They were always established in truth.
"We will soon find joy in this spot, when Dhananjaya returns, having obtained the weapons." This is what the Parthas pronounced as a supreme benediction, and they devoted themselves to austerities and yoga.
They saw many beautiful mountains and forests, but constantly thought about Kiriti — Arjuna. Every day and every night seemed like an entire year to them. From the moment when the great-souled Jishnu — Arjuna — had obtained Dhoumya's permission and had left with matted hair, from that instant happiness had deserted them. How could they find pleasure when their hearts were with him?
They had been stricken with grief ever since Jishnu, whose gait was like that of an elephant, had followed the instructions of his brother Yudhishthira and had left Kamyaka forest. They thought of the one whose steeds were white. He had gone to Vasava — Indra — in search of weapons.
In this way, the Bharatas spent a month in that mountain, immersed in melancholy. Aranyaka Parva, Chapter 458