Vyaasa visits the Pandavas in hiding. He and Yudhishthira (who takes after his father) find themselves in agreement that strong steps need to be taken to contain the catastrophe. Neither Pandu's nor Dhritarashtra's personal solutions had worked. The caste system was being abandoned in Hastinapur, and the Vyaasa has been unsure that it would be enough.

Vyaasa proposes polyandry. Yudhishthira convinces his brothers that this could work, and that they should practice it.

The Vyaasa arranges for the Pandavas to meet with King Drupada and ally with him. Drupada has been humiliated by Drona and sees an opportunity to get revenge. The Pandavas marry Drupada's daughter, Draupadi, and under his protection, reveal themselves, and claim a part of the kingdom.

Drona is upset -- he still loves Arjuna, but Drupada is his enemy.

Krishna, now war-chief of the Yadavas (after killing Kamsa), mediates between the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Dhritarashtra gives the Pandavas the barren forests of Khandavaprastha to the north of Hastinapur.

Dhritarashtra’s second son Dushasana is extremely upset. To assuage him, and to make him feel that he is a respected member of the ruling family, Dhritarashtra nominates him to the Supreme Judicial Council of the State of Hastinapur.

The Pandavas decide to establish a capital city of their own in Khandavaprastha. However, this is not easy. With Krishna's advice (the Yadavas are still nomadic and have much experience with controlled firing) they burn down a forested area for the city.

The city itself is constructed with wood taken from another forest. The Pandava kingdom is established at enormous cost in terms of natural resources and labor.

The enormous public expenditures initiate a major inflationary spiral. However, initially, the Pandavas are extremely popular.

During the burning of the forest, many animals and birds perish. A mother bird that hesitated by its fledglings in their nest is counseled by the babies to leave and save herself. The babies claim that they are rishis who had to be born once more and chose this particular birth as a quick way out.

Much of the discussion is concerned with this sudden destructive act by humans.

Moral: Wild animals cannot and should not depend on humans for protection, especially during times of crisis.

Yudhishthira is crowned king in the new capital of Indraprastha. Krishna proposes that he be crowned Emperor.

The Yadavas of Mathura played a historic role in ancient India of maintaining the balance of power. Though they never became emperors, their support was considered crucial.

Just before the grand occasion, Krishna becomes the Vyaasa (Bhishma's brother dies of natural causes). This, of course, is a secret event known only to a few. However, at the Imperial feast, Yudhishthira assigns the seat of honor to Krishna. Many of the rulers present do not appreciate this and though they accept the Yadava role in making Emperors, they do not wish to see Yadava influence formalized.

Sisupala insults Krishna. He is killed by apparently mysterious forces. Many kings think that the Pandavas took Krishna's side and Jayadratha, a relative of Sisupala, vows revenge.

After the imperial feast, the Pandavas show off their palaces to the Kauravas. Many snide and insulting remarks are made. The Kauravas are extremely upset.

Duryodhana invites the Pandavas to a game of dice. Due to a run of bad luck, and possibly cheating on Duryodhana's part, the Pandavas lose their entire stake, including their clothing. The Kauravas now make fun of the Pandavas. In particular, they make insulting remarks about Draupadi. An altercation occurs. Dushasana tries to take Draupadi's clothes off. Draupadi claims that Dushasana pulled her hair and attempted rape. Dushasana and Krishna fight and Krishna has to be kept from killing Dushasana.

The game of dice is not described in the Mahabharata. So I invent a game with betting rules akin to flash (a three-card version of poker played by many Indians) played with dice rather than cards. Each player pays the current bet amount to re-roll a die, and optionally, raises, the current bet per die, or puts up an initial bet to roll a set of six dice. On a subsequent turn, the player may re-roll some or all of his dice to attempt to improve his hand, after matching the bet. In exchange for paying half the raise per die, the player can remove but desist from rolling some of the dice -- this is called playing blind, since the player will have to pay to roll those dice cannot rolled those dice till after the next bet. A round ends when a raise is matched but not raised by all active players (even if some players are still blind or partially blind). When the round ends, all blind players must roll the blind dice and take the consequences. A "blind" player may cheat by knowing what will be rolled, possibly by using dice that have been weighted -- this is the method of cheating used by Shakuni in this game.