Yudhishthir's Teerth Yaatraa

Arjun was favorite of all the Paandav, so all Paandav were spending time in a great difficulty without him in Kaamyak Van. Yudhishthir was very unhappy, he was thinking, "It was foolish to spend time in forest like this, they could have killed Kaurav if they had been given a chance." Bheem was blaming his brother - "You should not have sent Arjun to do Tap for Divine Astra. You don't want us to be Kshatriya, you want us to be Sanyaasee, that is why you have sent Arjun to do Tap too. I have never heard of a Kshatriya doing Tap. Why should he need Divine Astra? Don't you have confidence in us?" Poor Yudhishthir found it very hard to listen to Bheem's wild talks. Out of all the brothers Yudhishthir loved Bheem so much that he could not have been offended in any way from him.

The then came a Rishi Brihadaashwa. Yudhishthir welcomed him and told him his saga of the last six years. He then asked him - "Hey Muni, Have you seen anyone else more unfortunate than me?" He comforted him saying that his bad time will be over soon and then he told him the story of Raajaa Nal (read that story of Raajaa Nal here), that how he lost his kingdom and how did he get it back. He said - "It was the game of dice again. He lost his kingdom in the game of dice and won his kingdom with the game of dice. He learned the art of playing dice, it is called "Aksh Hridaya"." Yudhishthir was very surprised to hear this. Rishi further said - "I will teach you this art, then nobody will be able to defeat you in that game." Yudhishthir learnt this art from Muni. After some time when Yudhishthir was happy, the Muni went away.

Then came Naarad Jee and asked him to go to Teerth Yaatraa. Yudhishthir consulted his Guru Rishi Dhaumya, he also supported the idea. He told him all about different Teerth all around and suggested him to go as early as possible. Then Rishi Lomash came there and told Yudhishthir about his visit to Indra and gave him Indra's message of coming of Arjun. He said - "I will accompany you to all the holy places if you wish. I know them all." Yudhishthir was very happy to hear all this. On the fourth day they set out on their Teerth Yaatraa.

First they went to Nimish (Naimish Aranya - Aranya means forest). River Gomatee flows there. Their next halt was Prayaag (Trivenee or Alaahaabaad or Sangam) where golden yellow waters of River Gangaa blend with mid-night blue waters of River Yamunaa. Then they came to Mahaanadee and met Rishi Agastya. They had some happy time there. Then they proceeded towards Nandaa and Paramaanandaa and then to Hemkoot Parvat. Lomash Muni was a great help to them. Time was passing quickly.

They now turned westward. They saw River Godaavaree and other rivers. Then they came to Agastya Teerth and saw other rivers on West coast. Finally they came to Prabhaas Kshetra. They met Balaraam and Krishn there. They spent several days there talking about many incidents that had happened since they met last. Balaraam said to Krishn - "Krishn, How do you tolerate to see Paandav and Draupadee in this form and living like this? Looking at these tender twins, Nakul and Sahadev, my blood boils.  I cannot tolerate this. Let us go and fight with Kaurav and get back their kingdom."

Saatyaki said - "Hey Swaamee, It is not yet time. Yudhishthir himself is very particular to spend 13 years before taking any further action. We all know that Duryodhan is not going to return their kingdom, so there has to be war. So let us wait till Yudhishthir gives us permission." Krishn said - "Brother, Saatyaki is right. Yudhishthir is exercising patience, not because that he is not powerful, but because he wants to keep his word. Truth, to him, is greater than all the wealth in the world." Yudhishthir was very happy to see that at least there were some people who understood his feelings. He was so touched by their words that he got sentimental and said - "Now I have no fears about future. I am happy that you have so much affection for us."

After this Paandav proceeded towards north and came to the banks of River Saraswatee. This was the place where the incident of hawk and the dove took place with Raajaa Shibi. They saw the River Gangaa now and they reached Mainaak Parvat. Their next stop was Kailaash Parvat. They saw Bindusar, the source of the River Gangaa. They saw its seven streams, three streams flowing towards West, three streams flowing towards East and the seventh one which followed Bhageerath. Everybody felt so soothing there that they forgot their misery there for some time.

Towards Himvaan

Now Paandav decided to climb up on Mandar Parvat. Yudhishthir was concerned about Draupadee, but Bheem assured him that he could carry all when they get tired. Arjun was supposed to come there. They started to climb up and up and came to Gandhmaadan Peak. They were all excited to see Arjun. It was now five years since he left them. They all had only one thought, to meet Arjun. They came to Badaree Van where Nar and Naaraayan did their Tap. Yudhishthir said - "I cannot go further than this. My body is burning as if I have fever." As he was saying this a sudden darkness fell all around. The Earth, mountain, and the sky all were enveloped in dust. They could not talk to each other, they could not see each other. Trees started falling. Water started streaming down from mountains all over. Bheem carried Draupadee while clearing the path but he also got tired and sat down. Others also sat down. Yudhishthir thought if he had been angry and had given away his anger, that scene would be somewhat like this. At last everything stopped and it became as before.

So they started their journey again, but Draupadee again felt weak and fell down. All Paandav took care of her and brought her consciousness back. Yudhishthir was blaming himself for all this. He asked forgiveness from Draupadee, but Draupadee comforted the king saying - "Nothing can stop the events caused by fate." Yudhishthir said - "Bheem, You also look tired so why not call Ghatotkach to carry her. He is strong enough to do this." Within no time Ghatotkach appeared before them. Yudhishthir loved most his this nephew. Bheem said to him - "Your mother cannot walk further, so carry her, and walk slowly so that she is not uncomfortable." He brought his myrmidons with him, so he carried Draupadee and they carried others. Only Dhaumya and Lomash Muni walked by themselves. Soon they could see the top of Kailaash Parvat. It was the land of eternal light. They came to Badaree Aashram. Rishi living there welcomed them all. They spent there many happy days. They could overlook from there - Bindusar, Mainaak Parvat etc places.