The Last Task Krishna Gave Him
After the Mausala Parva's catastrophe, the drunken brawl at Prabhasa that destroyed the Yadava men, and Krishna's own death and Balarama's departure shortly after, Arjuna travelled to Dwarka to find the city largely emptied of its male population, filled with widows, children and the elderly. Before his death, Krishna had specifically asked Arjuna to see to the safety of the surviving Yadava women and to resettle them, along with Vasudeva, Krishna's father, and what remained of the clan's wealth, at Indraprastha.
Arjuna took charge of this final duty personally, leading the surviving Yadavas out of a city the ocean itself was said to be reclaiming, Dwarka's submersion being described in the Puranas as following almost immediately upon Krishna's departure. It should have been, by any measure of Arjuna's career, an easy assignment for the man who had defeated gods, demons and armies.
Bandits, and a Bow That Would Not Draw
On the road, a group of Abhira bandits, described in the text as simple robbers rather than any divine or supernatural threat, attacked the convoy, hoping to seize the Yadava women and the remaining wealth. Arjuna, still carrying Gandiva, the bow Agni had given him at the Khandava forest, and his inexhaustible quivers, moved to defend them.
What the Mahabharata describes next is one of its most quietly devastating passages. Arjuna finds he cannot properly draw the bow. His memory of the divine weapons and mantras he had commanded throughout the war will not come to him. His aim, once unerring even at moving targets in darkness, fails against ordinary men. The bandits succeed in carrying off a significant number of the women and much of the wealth, while the greatest archer of the age stands largely helpless.
The text is direct in its own explanation, placed in Arjuna's mouth and later confirmed by the sage Vyasa when Arjuna comes to him in shock and grief: his power was never fully his own. It had depended, through the entire war and after, on Krishna's presence and blessing, and with Krishna gone from the earth, that power departed with him, the same way divine weapons in other traditions are described as withdrawing once their purpose or their giver is no longer present.
Vyasa's Response and What Arjuna Did Next
Rather than offering comfort that softened the loss, Vyasa confirms Arjuna's own reading of events and advises him plainly that the age of the Pandavas' active role in the world is over, that Krishna's departure marks the point at which their own dharma is complete and their remaining task is to prepare for their own final journey, not to continue functioning as the world's protectors.
Arjuna is described accepting this without argument, in sharp contrast to how he had once resisted picking up arms at all before Kurukshetra and needed the entire Bhagavad Gita to be persuaded into fighting. Here, at the very end, he lets go of the identity of invincible warrior with comparatively little resistance, delivering what remains of the Yadava survivors and wealth to Indraprastha, installing Krishna's great-grandson Vajra as king there, and returning to join his brothers for the Mahaprasthanika, their final walk toward the Himalayas.
The episode is often read as a deliberate counterpart to the Gita's opening, where Arjuna's despair had to be answered with an entire philosophical discourse to get him moving. At the story's end, the same man accepts an even harder loss, of his own greatness, without needing to be talked into anything at all.
Reader Questions Answered
Did Arjuna lose Gandiva itself, or just his skill with it?+
The text describes him retaining the physical bow but being unable to draw it with his former strength or recall the divine weapons and mantras associated with it, suggesting the loss was of the empowered skill rather than the object itself.
What happened to the Yadava women taken by the bandits?+
The Mahabharata does not give a detailed rescue account; the episode is generally read as closing that chapter of the story on a note of loss rather than restoration, underscoring the finality of the age's end.
Is this the last major event before the Pandavas' own deaths?+
Yes, this episode in the Mausala Parva and its aftermath directly precedes the Mahaprasthanika Parva, in which the Pandavas renounce the throne and begin their final journey toward the Himalayas.
About the author
Anjali Mehta · Editor, M.A. Religious Studies
Anjali is the managing editor for Vandnaa and oversees the festival and vrat coverage. She holds an M.A. in Religious Studies and reviews every published article for accuracy, accessibility, and tradition-fidelity.
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