After the Pandava army headed by Drishtadyumna and Shikandi retired to their tents, the 5 pandava brothers along with Krishna proceeded towards the camps of the Kauravas.
And they find empty tents and finally when the 6 reach the pavilion of Duryodhana, Krishna quickly tells Arjuna :
TAKE DOWN YOUR GANDIVA AND DISMOUNT IMMEDIATELY.
A puzzled Arjuna did as ordered by Krishna. After Arjuna got down from the chariot, Krishna released the horses and got down from the chariot. Interestingly now, the Anjaneya bannered flag disappeared also and in just few seconds like a flash, the ENTIRE CHARIOT BLAZED FORTH TO ASHES.
A stunned looking Arjuna and others were speechless and astonished by this development. Krishna replies to them :
Arjuna, this chariot , before had been consumed by diverse kinds of weapons. It was because I had sat upon it during battle that it did not fall into pieces. Already consumed by the energy of brahmastra and various other celestial weapons applied on you by Bhishma, Drona and Karna, . Now it has been reduced to ashes upon my abandoning it after attainment by you of your objectives.
Hearing the words of Krishna, Arjuna and others felt totally ashamed as their egos also got burnt . Arjuna was under the impression that it was his valour which singlehandedly won the war for Pandavas. Probably Almighty Krishna thought that he had to teach Arjuna some lessons as well !
Krishna now asks the 5 pandavas to remain out of their camps for the night . Anything that Krishna says was religiously followed by the 5 brothers and now also they followed his advice and went out of their camps and reached a sacred stream called Oghavati and slept there for the night.
Yudhishtira before this requests Krishna to pay a visit to Dirudhirashtra and Gandhari for obvious reasons. He was deeply worried about how the old man will react after losing his entire sons . Yudhishtira feared more about Gandhari as she had undergone severe ascetic austerities and can even consume the 3 worlds by her mere sight. Eventhough her sons had got the right treatment for their wickedness, a mother’s grief is something uncontrollable and un consolable and hence he thought Krishna is the best one to absorb the wrath of Gandhari.
Krishna now meets the couple who were grief stricken uncontrollably. However, Krishna quickly narrates the whole background which was the prime reason the mass destruction and added that its one’s destiny which had to go along with the nature. Now that his sons have died , both should treat the 5 pandavas as their children and forget and forgive the events of the war.
By now, the couple partially reached a stage of reconciliation.
Krishna suddenly realized by intuition , the evil that was meditated
by Aswathama . Rising in haste , Krishna quickly described the impending disaster to the Pandavas through Aswathama . A deeply worried Dirudhirashtra and Gandhari both requested Krishna to rush quickly to save the pandavas.