(Aranya Parva)
Janamejaya said, “Having felt great affliction on account of the
abduction of their wife and having rescued Krishna thereafter, what did
the Pandavas next do?”
Vaisampayana said, “Having felt great affliction on account of the
abduction of Krishna, king Yudhishthira of unfading glory, with his
brothers, left the woods of Kamyaka and returned to the delightful and
picturesque Dwaitavana abounding in trees and containing delicious fruits
and roots. And the sons of Pandu with their wife Krishna began to reside
there, living frugally on fruits and practising rigid vows. And while
those repressers of foes, the virtuous king Yudhishthira, the son of
Kunti, and Bhimasena, and Arjuna, and those other sons of Pandu born of
Madri, were dwelling in Dwaitavana, practising rigid vows, they
underwent, for the sake of a Brahmana, great trouble, which, however, was
destined to bring about their future happiness. I will tell thee all
about the trouble which those foremost of Kurus underwent while living in
those woods, and which in the end brought about their happiness. Do thou
listen to it! Once on a time, as a deer was butting about, it chanced
that the two sticks for making fire and a churning staff belonging to a
Brahmana devoted to ascetic austerities, struck fast into its antlers.
And, thereupon, O king, that powerful deer of exceeding fleetness with
long bounds, speedily went out of the hermitage, taking those articles
away. And, O foremost of Kurus, seeing those articles of his thus carried
away, the Brahmana, anxious on account of his Agnihotra, quickly came
before the Pandavas. And approaching without loss of time Ajatasatru
seated in that forest with his brothers, the Brahmana, in great distress,
spake these words, ‘As a deer was butting about, it happened, O king,
that my fire-sticks and churning staff which had been placed against a
large tree stuck fast to its antlers. O king, that powerful deer of
exceeding fleetness hath speedily gone out of the hermitage with long
bounds, taking those articles away. Tracking that powerful deer, O king,
by its foot-prints, do ye, ye sons of Pandu, bring back those articles of
mine, so that my Agnihotra may not be stopped!’ Hearing these words of
the Brahmana, Yudhishthira became exceedingly concerned. And the son of
Kunti taking up his bow sallied out with his brothers. And putting on
their corselets and equipped with their bows, those bulls among men,
intent upon serving the Brahmana, swiftly sallied out in the wake of the
deer. And descrying the deer at no great distance, those mighty warriors
discharged at it barbed arrows and javelins and darts, but the sons of
Pandu could not pierce it by any means. And as they struggled to pursue
and slay it, that powerful deer became suddenly invisible. And losing
sight of the deer, the noble-minded sons of Pandu, fatigued and
disappointed and afflicted with hunger and thirst, approached a banian
tree in that deep forest, and sat down in its cool shade. And when they
had sat down, Nakula stricken with sorrow and urged by impatience,
addressed his eldest brother of the Kuru race, saying, ‘In our race, O
king, virtue hath never been sacrificed, nor hath there been loss of
wealth from insolence. And being asked, we have never said to any
creature, Nay! Why then in the present case have we met with this
disaster?”