(_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?'"