(Draupadi falls as the Pandavas proceed)

After Shri Krishna left for His Heavenly abode, the five Pandavas followed by Draupadi commenced their great march to the heaven. During the march, all brothers of Dharmaraja and Draupadi dropped one after the other. A dog was following the Pandavas all through. Finally, Dharmaja followed by the dog continued his march. Indra and other demi-gods stopped him at the entrance and told, ‘ Dharmaraja! This dog cannot be allowed into the heaven. You leave the dog here and enter the heaven.’ Dharmaraja then replied firmly, ‘Oh! Great souls! This dog has followed me all the while and came up to this point. My own kith and kin could not do so. If the dog is not allowed into this heaven, I too will not enter.’ The very next moment, the dog is not to be found there. Yamadharmaraja, the father of Dharmaraja stood there. He said, ‘It is only to test you that I conducted this small play. Now come along with me. Sometime ago you spoke a lie in the battlefield. As expiation for that sin, you need to spend a few hours in the hell.’

As soon as Dharmaraja entered the hell, the burning heat there subsided and the atmosphere cooled down. The residents of hell came to know of the arrival of Dharmaraja there and felt very happy. A few hours later, Dharmaraja had to leave the hell and proceed to to the heaven. All residents in the hell then gathered round him and prayed, ‘Oh! Noble soul! Why don’t you stay here itself? Dharmaraja then donated the result of all his meritorious deeds that he earned with the grace of Yamadharmaraja, to the people undergoing various punishments in the hell. Thereby they were all redeemed of their sins. (Beacons of Divine Wisdom Part 2, pp. 85-86)