On hearing of his intentions his four brothers - Bhima, Arjuna, and the twins Nakula and Sahadeva - resolve to follow his example and accompany him.

Yudhishtira appoints successors to his various kingdoms. The citizens and the inhabitants of the provinces, hearing the king's words, became filled with anxiety and disapproved of them. 'This should never be done' - said they unto the king.

The monarch, well versed with the changes brought about by time, did not listen to their counsels. Possessed of righteous soul, he persuaded the people to sanction his views...

Then Dharma's son, Yudhishtira, the King of Pandavas, casting off his ornaments, wore barks of trees...

The five brothers, with Draupadi forming the sixth [she was the joint wife of the brothers], and a dog forming the seventh, set out on their journey.

The citizens and the ladies of the royal household followed them for some distance...

The denizens of the city then returned [exactly as Kai Khusrau's subjects had done]. The seven pilgrims meanwhile had set out upon their journey. They first wandered eastward, then southward, and then westward. Lastly they faced northward and crossed the Himalaya.

Then they beheld before them a vast desert of sand and beyond it Mount Meru.

One by one the pilgrims sank exhausted and expired, first Draupadi, then the twins, then Arjuna, then Bhima; but Yudhishtira, who never even looked back at his fallen comrades, still pressed on and, followed by the faithful dog who turns out to be Dharma (the Law), in disguise, entered Heaven in his mortal body, not having tasted death."

(Hamlet's Mill)