Parva 17

Mahaprasthanika Parva

The six of them set out north on foot, and a dog followed

The last journey

Arjuna returned and told them everything, the sinking of Dvaraka, his own defeat, the old strength no longer left in his hands. The Pandavas decided that enough was enough, that their own time was over too. Parikshit was made king, Uttara's son, the one born dead and brought to life by Krishna's word. Then the five brothers and Draupadi set aside their royal garments and set out toward the north, without looking back. On the way the god Agni appeared before them and asked Arjuna to return the Gandiva, the bow belonged to Varuna and it was time to give it back, along with the two quivers whose arrows never ran out. Arjuna, without hesitation, released all three into the water, as though an entire lifetime had been handed back to the sea. And a dog appeared from somewhere and began following them, quietly, uncalled.

One by one

The path climbed upward, toward the Himalayas, hard and long. Draupadi fell first. Bhima asked what wrong she had done, to fall before anyone else. Yudhishthira answered without pausing, that of the five of them she had leaned more toward Arjuna. Then Sahadeva fell, Yudhishthira said he had taken pride in his own intellect, believing no one matched him in understanding. Then Nakula fell, the reason given was pride in his own beauty, believing no one matched him in looks. Then Arjuna fell, Yudhishthira said he had once boasted that he alone would destroy every enemy in a single day, and that had not come true. Then Bhima fell, two reasons were given, pride in his own strength, and that he never thought of others while eating. Each time Bhima asked, astonished, and each time Yudhishthira gave a reason and walked on, without turning back, without stopping, as though even stopping were a weakness.

At last only two remained, Yudhishthira and the dog that had stayed with him the whole way.

The dog and Indra

Then Indra arrived in a shining chariot. He said, come, let us go to heaven, body and all, a rare honor. Yudhishthira said the dog would come too. Indra said dogs do not enter heaven, it was the rule. Yudhishthira said then he would not go either, this dog had stayed with him the entire way and had come to him for refuge, and he could not abandon one who had taken refuge in him, even if it cost him heaven itself. He refused to board the chariot. Then the dog took its true form, it was Dharma, Yudhishthira's own father, the same one who had met him years before disguised as a Yaksha and questioned him.

Note: Parikshit's coronation, the return of the Gandiva, the six setting out on their last journey, falling one by one and the episode of the dog are all in the Mahaprasthanika Parva of Vyasa's Mahabharata. The reasons for the falls come from Yudhishthira's mouth, not from the text's — they are what he says, and the text puts no seal on them. The dog is Dharma, the same one who came as the yaksha in the Vana Parva — so Yudhishthira's first test and his last were set by the same one.

Source: Mahabharata (ascribed by tradition to Vyasa), Mahaprasthanika Parva

Now — how much stayed with you?

What happened?

What did Agni say to Arjuna on the road?

  • That he should turn back
  • That he should return the Gandiva, because it was Varuna's
  • That he should go on alone
  • That he should leave the dog
Read the whole story — A bow that went back

The Gandiva had come to Arjuna at the time of the Khandava forest, and it was Varuna's — not Arjuna's to keep.

In the Mausala Parva it had already stopped working, when Arjuna could not save the women from robbers.

Here it is formally returned. Arjuna says nothing.

Things often go back where they came from in the Mahabharata — the Gandiva into water, Bhishma into the Ganga, the story into Janamejaya's assembly.

Why is that?

According to Yudhishthira, why did Draupadi fall first?

  • Because she was the weakest
  • Because she had wanted the war
  • Because she was proud of her looks
  • Because of the five, she leaned more towards Arjuna
Read the whole story — Answers given while walking

Every time it is Bhima who asks, and every time Yudhishthira answers without stopping.

Sahadeva for his intelligence, Nakula for his looks, Arjuna for his bow, Bhima for his strength — each with a pride of his own.

These answers are Yudhishthira's, not the book's own verdicts. He does not speak for anyone else.

And he does not stop. The coldness of the whole passage is in that — he answers, and keeps walking.

Who am I?

I walked the whole way with them. At the gate of heaven they were told to leave me, and Yudhishthira refused. Who am I?

  • A dog, who was in fact Dharma
  • Indra
  • Vyasa
  • A deer
Read the whole story — A test with a living companion

Indra said there is no place for a dog in heaven. Yudhishthira refused to get onto the chariot.

His argument was that he could not leave one who had come with him and had trusted him.

That instant the dog took the form of Dharma — the same Dharma who had come as the yaksha at the lake in the Vana Parva.

So Yudhishthira is tested by his own father, both times, and the question is the same both times: will you choose your own good over other people?

Whose son?

The form the dog took was Yudhishthira's father. Who is he?

  • Vayu
  • Indra
  • Dharma
  • Pandu
Read the whole story — One examiner, twice

The yaksha who asked the questions at the lake in the Vana Parva was the same, and the test then was the same as well.

There, Yudhishthira chose to revive Nakula rather than Bhima or Arjuna, so that one of Madri's sons would live.

Here he offered to give up heaven for a dog.

Both times the choice runs against his own advantage, and both times the one asking is his father.

Put it in order

In what order did they fall in the Mahaprasthanika Parva?

  • Sahadeva → Draupadi → Nakula → Arjuna → Bhima
  • Draupadi → Nakula → Sahadeva → Bhima → Arjuna
  • Draupadi → Arjuna → Nakula → Sahadeva → Bhima
  • Draupadi → Sahadeva → Nakula → Arjuna → Bhima
Read the whole story — The shortest parva, the longest silence

The Mahaprasthanika Parva is among the shortest in the Mahabharata — a few chapters only.

There is no war in it, no assembly, no teaching. Only six people, a dog, and a road.

The order of falling runs backwards — the ones who were furthest ahead go first, and the quietest man is left alone.

The next parva is the last, and in it Yudhishthira gets what he had not expected.