For this exile, the Pandavas left their ageing mother Kunti behind at Hastinapur, in Vidur's place. They lived in forests, hunted game, and visited holy spots. At around this time, Yudhishthir asked Arjuna to go to the heavens in quest of celestial weapons because, by now, it was apparent that their kingdom would not be returned to them peacefully after the exile and that they would have to fight for it. Arjuna did so, and not only did he learn the techniques of several divine weapons from the gods, he also learnt how to sing and dance from the gandharvas.
After 12 years, the Pandavas went incognito for a year. During this one-year period, they lived in the Virat kingdom. Yudhishthir took up employment as a king's counsellor, Bheem worked in the royal kitchens, Arjuna turned himself into a eunuch and taught the palace maidens how to sing and dance, the twins worked at the royal stables, and Draupadi became a handmaiden to the queen. At the end of the incognito period - during which they were not discovered despite Duryodhan's best efforts - the Pandavas revealed themselves. The Virat king was overwhelmed; he offered his daughter in marriage to Arjuna but he declined since he had been her dance teacher the past year and students were akin to children. The princess was married, instead, to Arjuna's son Abhimanyu.
At this wedding ceremony, a large number of Pandava allies gathered to draw out a war strategy. Meanwhile, emissaries had been sent to Hastinapur to demand Indraprastha back but the missions had failed. Krishna himself went on a peace mission and failed. Duryodhan refused to give away as much land as was covered by the point of a needle, let alone the five villages proposed by the peace missions. The Kauravas also gathered their allies around them, and even broke away a key Pandava ally - the maternal uncle of the Pandava twins - by trickery. War became inevitable.
PLEASE CONTINUES...