Jayadratha Seeks Boon from Shiva
Stricken with grief and shame after his humiliation, Jayadratha goes to Gangadvara and performs great austerities to please Shiva. When the god grants him a boon, he asks to be able to vanquish all five Pandavas in battle. Shiva grants a modified version: Jayadratha will be able to restrain all of them — except Arjuna, who is invincible and protected by Krishna.
Jayadratha left the hermitage with his shame still burning. He had been captured, thrashed, kicked in the head, shaved into five tufts like a slave, bound, displayed, and then freed — not because he deserved it, but because Yudhishthira was compassionate. The humiliation was complete. The memory of it would not leave him.
He went to Gangadvara, the place where the Ganga descends to the plains, and sought refuge with the god Virupaksha — Shiva, the three-eyed one, Uma's consort. He performed great austerities. He did not stop until the god was pleased.
Shiva accepted his sacrifices in person. He granted Jayadratha a boon.
Jayadratha spoke: "May I be able to vanquish the five Pandavas, on their chariots, in battle."
Shiva said: "No. They are invincible in battle and cannot be killed in battle. But you will be able to restrain them — except for the mighty-armed Arjuna, whom even the gods find impossible to assail. He is foremost among those who are skilled in the use of weapons. He is protected by Krishna, known as the one who cannot be vanquished, and who holds the conch shell, the chakra and the mace."
It was not everything Jayadratha had asked for. But it was something. He would be able to hold back four of the five Pandavas. He would be a wall they could not pass.
He returned to his own abode.
The Pandavas continued to live in Kamyaka forest, unaware of what was being shaped against them. Aranyaka Parva, Chapter 553