The Pandavas Leave for Their Exile
When the Pandavas walked out of Indraprastha, barefoot and sparsely clothed, on their way to the Kamyaka forest, people turned out on the streets to bid them a tearful farewell. Sobbing and crying, they implored them not to leave them to the wild beasts of Hastinapur, as they knew that their exile was the handiwork of Duryodhana and his uncle Sakuni. ‘Let the evildoers be cursed!’ someone shouted from the crowd. When some Brahmins insisted on accompanying them to the forest, Yudhishthira waved them back, saying that his family must do penance on its own.
But he was overwhelmed by the love and respect that people showered on him and his brothers. What more could a king wish for, he thought, than the dedication of his subjects.
After walking a few miles away from Indraprastha, the Pandavas stopped in a forest, where Bheema set up a cottage for them to stay. Draupadi was deeply pained to see how they had been reduced to this state of deprivation after a luxurious life in their palace. Noticing her despondent expression, Yudhishthira told her how greatly anguished he was to see the princess of Panchala facing such an ordeal.
‘I must take the entire blame, O Draupadi,’ he said, ‘for pushing my family into this state. You must be cursing me.’
‘On the contrary, I’m happy that I will now be with you all most of the time. In Indraprastha, you were always caught up with state administration, while here we will all be together. Maybe some good will come out of our suffering.’
‘Blessed is the man who has a wife like you – so devoted and so loving,’ Yudhishthira responded.
The first night in the forest was a nightmarish experience for them. All through the night, they heard the howling of wild beasts. Next morning, when Draupadi stepped out for a breath of fresh air, she saw a deer looking curiously at her, as if it were amused to see a new denizen in the forest.
Yudhishthira always awoke very early in the morning to sit under a tree for his meditation. For the first time, he understood that suffering deepens one’s understanding of God’s design. Thinking about the birds and beasts in the forest, he realized that they too were members of a large family. How could man attain divine bliss without embracing all of God’s creations?
In Hastinapur, Dhritarashtra was in the grip of anxiety. Why did he allow the second game of dice to be played, he asked himself. But he was also happy that his son was now the unchallenged ruler of both Hastinapur and Indraprastha. What mattered to him most was the happiness of Duryodhana. So he was greatly disturbed when Vidura shook him out of his complacence by saying that he would some day pay heavily for the sins of his sons, Duryodhana and Duhsasana.
‘O King, I see in the future nothing but death and devastation for the Kauravas,’ said Vidura, ‘for justice must prevail in the end. You opened your inner eye only for a moment, when you restored to the Pandavas all their losses after the first game of dice. But, thereafter, you again lapsed into moral blindness. Beware of the inexorable hand of justice. If you ask my advice, there is still time for you to call the Pandavas back from exile and return their kingdom to them.’
Although Vidura’s plain speaking pricked his conscience, Dhritarashtra was no longer in a mood to dispossess his son. Overcome with anger, he shouted at Vidura: ‘There you go again, preaching to me. If you had a son, you would have understood my concern for Duryodhana. I think I have had enough of you. So why don’t you follow your dear Pandavas to the forest and leave me alone?’
‘I will be glad to quit your service,’ Vidura responded. ‘A king who is blind both physically and morally does not deserve to have a counsellor like me.’
Flinging these words at Dhritarashtra, Vidura brusquely walked out.
When Bheeshma heard how the king had treated one of his most trusted ministers, he remonstrated with him for his temper and rashness.
This set Dhritarashtra thinking. But by the time he sent a messenger to bring Vidura back, he had already left for the forest.
When the Pandavas saw Vidura at their cottage, they were greatly delighted.
‘What brings you to this forest, uncle?’ Yudhishthira asked him.
Yudhishthira was very distressed to hear how the king had treated him. But as they were talking, Sanjaya, Dhritarashtra’s charioteer, showed up.
‘I have been sent by the king to bring you back to Hastinapur,’ Sanjaya said to Vidura. ‘He also sends you his deep regrets.’
When Yudhishthira pleaded with Vidura to forgive the king, he said, ‘Your compassion and magnanimity, O Dharmaraja, are irrepressible. Are you a man or a saint?’
Yudhishthira just smiled and touched Vidura’s feet.
In just a few days, the Pandavas settled down to their new routine. While Arjuna went out hunting, for they needed deerskin for clothing, Nakula and Sahadeva collected wood for Draupadi’s cooking. Bheema’s role was to keep vigil, day and night. Yudhishthira remained absorbed in meditation most of the time. Often, he enjoyed conversing with some sages in the forest about such spiritual and metaphysical problems as the relationship between destiny and karma, or the nature of dharma. He also wanted to know why God had created evil when He was all merciful. Sage Maitreya frequently stopped by to give his discourses on truth and righteousness which enlightened Yudhishthira.
When, in the course of his wanderings, Maitreya visited Dhritarashtra’s court, he was received with great honour and reverence. The king used this opportunity to ask the sage if he had met the Pandavas in the Kamyaka forest.
‘Indeed, I have met them several times. Yudhishthira is loved by all the sages in the forest.’
Dhritarashtra lowered his head, unable to say anything. When Duryodhana walked up to Maitreya to pay his respects, the sage turned to him and asked, somewhat tersely, ‘Why don’t you go to the Pandavas and offer them love and understanding? Why is there so much hostility between these two sides of the same family? Of course, I know all that has happened during the past few days.’
Instead of responding to the sage’s advice, Duryodhana just grinned and brusquely walked away.
Duryodhana’s insolence enraged Maitreya.
‘I tell you, O King,’ he said, ‘that your son will be your undoing. Look at the way he just walked out on me, swollen with pride and anger. I predict that he will die a terrible death. I curse the entire Kaurava family, which is now destined to be annihilated. There is no hope for you.’
As he was about to leave, Dhritarashtra implored: ‘O merciful sage, I entreat you to take back your curse. I beg of you to be compassionate and forgiving. Duryodhana is indeed an erring child, but I promise to reform him somehow.’
‘All right,’ said Maitreya. ‘I am willing to soften the blow of my curse. It will become ineffective if you and your son make peace with the Pandavas.’
After Maitreya left the court, Dhritarashtra was seized with fear. All sorts of gruesome images now started to appear in his mind because he knew that Duryodhana would never relent and the curse would inevitably take its toll.