Victory march of the Pandavas

With the killing of Jarasandha by Bheema, Krishna removed the main obstacle to establish the supremacy of Pandavas in preparation for the Rajasooya ritual. Thus ends the chapter “Jarasandha Vadha Parvam (killing of Jarasandha)”.

Yudhishthira , then, sent his four brothers to win over the other kingdoms. The chapter “winning over kings in all directions (Digjaya Parvam)” has description of various kingdoms and their rulers in each of the four directions. It also tells us what challenges the Pandavas faced in each.

Arjuna went North. He crossed the river Ganga and various mountain ranges and won the subordination of all on the way. Thus he reached the extreme boundary of the Himalayas in the north.

Bheema proceeded to the East. He won over the Panchalas, Videhas and so on until he reached the land of the Chedis. Sisupala who was the king there offered stiff resistance to Bheema. The Pandava won over the king. Bheema also fought and defeated the Paundraka Vasudeva. He reached the Vanga land and the other countries in the far east.

Sahadeva went in the southern direction. He met the rulers of Matsya, Pandya, Dravida, Andhra and Kerala and established victory over all.

Nakula went west. He went through the kingdoms of such rulers as Dasarna, Trigartha Malawa, Huna and so on.

The four Pandavas returned back establishing supremacy over the rulers in all the four directions and brought loads of wealth by way of tax.With this Vyasa ends the chapter of “winning over kings in all directions or Digjaya Parvam”.