After reaching Dvaitavana Yudhishthira met Markandeya rishi, who advised Yudhishthira to follow the path of Dharma and not use force thinking they were powerful. He asked Yudhishthira to wait for 13 years and then reclaim their kingdom from Dhritarashtra. After this brief meeting Markandeya rishi went North and Pandava sat together and for the first time since the unfortunate game, talked about it.

This conversation between Draupadi, Yudhishthira and Bhima offers a brief window into their respective thought process.

Draupadi started with reminding Yudhishthira about the glory days at Indraprastha when he used to sit on a throne made of ivory which was studded with many precious gems. She reminded him of days when he used to be surrounded by kings who were eager to please him. She talked about the lavish food cooked by various chefs they used to enjoy and compared that with the life they were forced to live because of Duryodhana.

She talked about Bhimasena's strength and Arjuna valour and the life they were forced to live now. She talked about how the kindhearted and brave Madreya had to suffer. In the end she mentioned herself and the suffering she had to endure.

She then questioned Yudhishthira why none of this made him angry. She recounted a conversation between Prahlad and Bali about the usage of anger and mercy depending on the circumstances.

Yudhishthira responded to Draupadi by recounting the ills of anger and how it often made people do undesirable and unacceptable things. He praised the virtues of being merciful and how everyone should strive to be merciful in every situation.

Grief stricken by Yudhishthira's response Draupadi questioned Yudhishthira's intellect and raised doubts over Dharma and Divinity. She questioned the Gods who allowed Duryodhana to prosper at the expense of their suffering despite them strictly adhering to the path of Dharma.

Yudhishthira acknowledged Draupadi's grief but told her to not astray from the path of Dharma because of sufferings. He also told her that it was not wise to criticise the Gods.

Draupadi acknowledged the importance of destiny but insisted on the superiority of Purushartha. She talked about the need to perform actions towards achieving a goal rather than leaving things to destiny and accept their situation as fate.

Bhima also sided with Draupadi's point of view and tried to instigate Yudhishthira so that he agreed to go to war against Duryodhana. He told Yudhishthira that it is the Dharma of Kshatriyas to kill their enemies and requested Yudhishthira to use him and Arjuna to burn down the forest called Duryodhana.

Yudhishthira told Bhima that he understood his feelings but he believed that since he had accepted the terms of the game set by Shakuni and Duryodhana and took an oath to adhere by those terms, he had no desire to break that oath.

Bhima dejected by Yudhishthira's response said that he believed that Yudhishthira was a Brahmin born as a Kshatriya by mistake. He also told Yudhishthira how difficult it would be for him to stay hidden for one year considering how famous they were. He further added that under special circumstance thirteen months can be considered equivalent to thirteen years so they should follow that and not worry about breaking his oath.

Yudhishthira reminded Bhima how all the Kuru elders and kings sat silently and watched their humiliation, they were all going to side with Duryodhana even if they had a soft corner for them in their hearts their actions would be in support of Duryodhana. He also reminded Bhima about all the kings they fought and defeated during Rajasuya campaigns and how most of them would likely ally with Duryodhana to fight against them. He told Bhima to not act in haste and use these thirteen months to prepare themselves for the war.

At this point Ved Vyasa arrived there who told Yudhishthira that he understood his worry and reminded him that Arjuna is the incarnation of Nara who was capable of ensuring victory for them. He offered the knowledge of Pratismriti to Yudhishthira which allowed humans to travel to and interact with beings in different realms. He asked Yudhishthira to use this knowledge to send Arjuna on the quest to acquire all the divine weapons of Indra, Varuna, Yama, Kubera etc from their respective gods themselves.

Ved Vyasa advised Yudhishthira to not stay at one place for long time and prepare to move to some other place. Adhering to this advice they decide to move back to Kamyaka forest at the banks of river Saraswati.

In the next thread we would cover Arjuna's quest for the divine weapons and his encounter with Mahadeva in the process. So stay tuned and keep sharing.