Bhima Raises Yudhishthira's Spirits
After Dhoumya's counsel, Bhimasena speaks to Yudhishthira. He reminds the king that Arjuna has not acted foolishly, that Nakula and Sahadeva are restrained only by his own command, and that all four brothers stand ready to carry out whatever task Yudhishthira assigns — and to vanquish any enemy who stands in their way.
After Dhoumya had spoken, the mighty-armed and immensely strong Bhimasena — foremost among strong ones — spoke to the king and raised his spirits.
"O great king!" Bhima said. "Look at Gandivadhanva (Arjuna). Because of his devotion to dharma and because of his own intelligence, he has not acted foolishly yet."
It was a pointed observation. Arjuna was the finest archer in the world, the wielder of the Gandiva bow, the man who had won Draupadi at her swayamvara and who had single-handedly defeated the gods themselves in battle. He could have done anything when the dice game went wrong. He could have fought. He could have refused to accept the exile. But he had not. He had submitted to the terms of the wager, because Yudhishthira had commanded it.
"Nakula and Sahadeva," Bhima continued, "terrible in their valour, are capable of slaying the enemies, but have always been restrained by me."
The youngest Pandavas were not children anymore. Nakula was the most handsome man alive, a master swordsman, a charioteer without equal. Sahadeva was the wisest, learned in the Vedas and in the science of politics, and deadly with a blade. Both of them could have acted. Both had chosen not to — because Bhima had held them back.
"We will not deviate from whatever task you assign to us," Bhima said. "You must tell us what we should do and we will swiftly carry it out and vanquish our enemies."
The words were simple. The meaning was not. Bhima was telling his elder brother: we have followed you into exile. We will follow you into concealment. We will follow you wherever you lead. And when the time comes to fight, we will fight — and we will win.
When Bhimasena spoke these words, the brahmanas who had gathered around them pronounced supreme benedictions on them. Having bid farewell to the descendants of the Bharata lineage, all of them returned to their own houses. All those who were foremost in knowledge of the Vedas, ascetics and sages, pronounced their blessings in the prescribed way and desired to see them again.
The five learned Pandavas arose with Dhoumya. The brave ones set out with Krishna. After traversing the distance of a krosha — about two miles — they seated themselves at a spot. Those tigers among men were ready to begin their sojourn of concealment.
Each of them was separately learned in the sacred texts. But all of them were also skilled in consultations. They were knowledgeable about when it was a time for peace and when it was a time for war. Before departing, they sat down and consulted each other. Aranyaka Parva, Chapter 596