Dhrstaduymna comes and takes all UpaPandavas. Subhadra’s son, Abhimanyu and Subhadra are taken away by their brother. Five Pandavas and Draupadi go to the forest, Kamayaka-vana. Vidura advises Dhritaraashtra that what he has done is wrong. He tells Dhritaraashtra that Pandavas have been cheated by Shakuni and Duryodhana. He advises Dhritaraashtra to return whatever has been grabbed illegally from Pandavas. He even goes to the extent of saying if Duryodhana does not agree to rule the kingdom jointly, Dhritaraashtra should make Yudishtira the king of Hastinapura.

Dhritaraashtra says you are constantly supporting Pandu’s sons even though he is dead and you are my brother. An angry Dhritaraashtra tells Vidura that he can go wherever he wants. Vidura tells Dhritaraashtra that Pandavas will eventually will come back. He says all your children will be killed and the earth will drink their blood.

Vidura searches for Pandavas in the forest. When Yudishtira sees Vidura coming, he gets confused. He thinks Duryodhana has sent him for a third round of dice to win over the weapons. Even in that state in the forest, he feels he cannot refuse a third invitation! Vidura consoles the Pandavas and advises that the patient one survives. Yudishtira agrees to follow the advice.

After Vidura leaves to the forest, Dhritaraashtra laments to Sanjaya that he has also lost his second brother. Immediately Sanjaya rushes to the forest and meets Vidura and gets him back. The two brothers get united again. This makes Duryodhana a bit nervous as he fears that his father may listen to Vidura and invite the Pandavas back and return the kingdom.

Yudishtira tells Pandavas that it is important to learn and obtain weapons. He asks Arjuna to approach his father Indra and pray at the Gandhamadana mountain. Arjuna does intense Tapas there. He meets a Brahmna. The Brahmna asks him how did you come here as no one is supposed to reach beyond the mountains. The Brahmana reveals his form, which is Indra. He then tells Arjuna to pray to Shiva before he can get the arms.

Mukasura tries to attack Arjuna in the form of a wild boar. At the same time, Shiva, along with Parvati and his bhutas come in the form of hunters to bless Arjuna. They hunt the same boar. Arjuna shoots at the boar and so does Shiva. Arjuna tells the hunter that it is his place of Tapas and the hunter should not be there. Arjuna hits the hunter on his head with his sword. The sword breaks on hitting the hunter’s head. The hunter is not hurt. After the hunter overwhelms Arjuna he reveals his forms as Shiva and gives him the Pasupatastra.

Although not in the original there is another story. Arjuna had actually got a Shivalinga consecrated there. He was doing Puja to the Shivalinga but the flowers he was offering were going to the hunter instead. He then realizes that the hunter is Shiva.

Arjuna goes to Indraloka and returns blessed with weapons from Varuna, Yama and Indra.

Different sages visit Pandavas while they are in forest. Yudishtira seeks advice from all the sages. The Pandavas also visit several tirthas and the sages they meet tell them several stories. Some of the stories narrated to them are Nala Dhamayanti, Savitri and Satyavan, Dharma Vyadha etc. These stories instruct Pandavas about how they should conduct themselves in adversity.

From the story of Ramayana, they are told that Rama did not hold any grudge against the world even though he was denied of all the opportunities for no fault of his. He did not lose the stability of his mind. Therefore Pandavas should not lose wisdom (Viveka) in any circumstance.

After Pandavas have left for the forest, Duryodhana starts feeling bored. Till then his mind was obsessed with how to hurt Pandavas. Karna tells Duryodhana that he knows where Pandavas are living. Let us go and visit them and show off our wealth to them. He says let us call it as the Gosha Yatra, which means cowherd village yatra. It also suggests that they will do a show-off. Duryodhana says he will ask his father for permission. Karna prevents him from telling his father. He says tell your father that we are just going for a count of the cows. With this excuse Kauravas go on the Gosha Yatra.

Kauravas go to the cow herd village and get drunk. They demand alcohol from the villagers and beat them up. They camp around a lake and watch Gandharva women who were taking a bath there. The Gandharva men beat them up. Some of the Kauravas are caught by the Gandharvas.

Karna gets scared and escapes by getting into Vikarna’s chariot.

Yudishtira is nearby and wants to help the Kauravas. Arjuna and Bheema get upset and tell Yudishtira that what the Gandharvas did is what we should have done when Draupadi was being shamed.

यदस्माभिर्नुष्ठेयं गन्धर्वैस्तदनुष्ठितम् ॥महाभारतम्-३-२३१-१५॥

Yudishtira says that he is the oldest and the society should respect us brothers as one even if we have divisions within us. He says please go and protect the Kauravas.

The Pandava brothers rescue Kauravas who feel humiliated that they were rescued by Pandavas. They have lost their face again. When they return, Karna mistakenly thinks that Kauravas had beaten the Gandharvas and congratulates them. This shames Kauravas even more.

In Kamyaka-vana Draupadi gets a nice fragrance from a nearby place. It was coming from a flower called Sougandhika. Bheema immediately says he will go and get the pushpa. He follows the fragrance. He encounters a huge, but frail monkey which was actually Anjaneya. Its tail was spread on the path. In our tradition we should not cross over another person. So Bheema tells the monkey why don’t you move the tail a bit. Anjaneya refuses to and says that I am tired and why don’t you move it on your own. Bheema thinks lightly of the monkey and tries. He is unable to do it. The tail of the monkey will not move. Bheema says I am the son of Vayu and Hanuman’s brother. Anjaneya pretends ignorance. Eventually Anjaneya reveals his true form and also shows Vishwarupa. He promises to help Bheema whenever needed.

One day, Pandavas grow very tired and thirsty. Yudishtira asks Nakula to go to a lake and fetch water. He hears a voice that says, “unless you answer questions asked you cannot touch the water.” Nakula does not pay heed to the voice and drinks water. He falls dead right in front of the lake. Next Yudishtira sends Sahadeva who sees his dead brother. He hears the same voice and ignores it and dies too. Arjuna too goes and same voice warns hi. Arjuna starts shooting arrows at the direction of the voice. He also dies. Bheema also meets the same fate.

Finally Yudishtira also goes. When Yudisthira hears the voice, he controls himself and starts answering the questions. The voice becomes visible and shows up as a Yaksha. All the brothers are revived from their death and the Yaksa reveals himself as Yudishtira’s father, Dharma.