The Lure of the Deer
The Pandavas in the forest
The epic, Mahaabhaaratha, has eighteen chapters, called ‘parvas’. The Vana Parva or the ‘Forest Chapter’ deals exclusively with the exile of the Pandavas.
The five brothers and their wife Droupadi lived in two stretches of forests called Kaamyakavana and Dwaitavana, at different points in time. Their geographical location remains uncertain but it is assumed to be in the western part of the Kuru kingdom.
After their stint in Dwaitavana, they returned to Kaamyakavana, towards the fag end of their exile of twelve long years.
The curious incident of the Yaksha Prashne occurred in Kaamyakavana.
The Lure of the Deer
The role of a deer leading to the strange events that occurred in the Mahabhaaratha is reminiscent of another deer that lured Raama away from Seetha, ultimately resulting in the vanquishment of Raavana.
The Pandavas were approached by a Brahmin residing in the forest, with a plea. His kindling wood sticks required to ignite the sacred fire required for the daily performance of prescribed rituals had been hung on the branch of a tree. A deer which chose the bark of that very tree to rub its flank against, got the sticks entangled in its antlers and walked away.
The Pandavas nonchalantly assured the Brahmin that they would get both the sticks and the deer, the sticks for him and the deer for themselves.
They set out in pursuit of the deer. The deer would show itself a distance away and as they closed in on it, it would disappear from sight. This game of ‘nowyou–see-me, now-you-don’t’ drew the Pandavas further and further away, into unfamiliar parts of the forest. By that time, the deer was completely out of sight and the five brothers were frustrated and thirsty.
The lament of the brothers
Nakula, upset at the turn of events, lamented…”How will we fulfill our promise to the Brahmin? We can get him new kindling sticks, but we will not be keeping our word if we do that.”
“Why do woes befall us constantly? What have we done to deserve them? As children, we grew up in forests. Our envious cousins always sought to oust us, we were sent to house of lac to be burned down. We did escape, but had to remain under the radar. We were handed an uninhabitable piece of land as our share of kingdom. Hardly had we settled in peace when we were drawn to the treacherous game of dice where having lost everything, our beloved wife was humiliated. In spite of gaining everything back, we were drawn into the deceitful game yet again, this time to spend twelve years in exile and a year incognito… Even in the forest we have faced numerous hardships… the latest blow being our queen kidnapped by our wretched brother-in-law!”
“Now we find ourselves incapable of fulfilling a simple promise... What sins have we unknowingly committed?” he asked aloud.
To this, Bheema roared, “I know the sin I have committed. It is letting the vile Dusshasana live after he dragged Droupadi by her hair and pulled her saree. If only I had finished him, then and there…”
An angry Arjuna declared, “I am the one who has sinned. I let Karna live after his despicable comment* on Droupadi. If only I had killed him, even as the words escaped his lips…”
*Karna called Droupadi a whore for being the wife of five men
A smouldering Sahadeva said, “The sin is mine. I should have speared the wicked Shakuni to death, for his deceit…”
Interestingly, in the war that followed, the three brothers killed the very same ones they had named here.