In plain words
God keeps on testing. We must not take the ‘test’ God sets as a ‘test’. That very ‘test’ must be a ‘taste’ to us. All the tests God sets are full of a fine ‘taste’.
Arjuna, who had gone with Kṛṣṇa to Dvārakā, came back. ‘My son! Is Kṛṣṇa well?’ asked Kuntīdevī. By then Kṛṣṇa had gone to His own abode. ‘Mother! Kṛṣṇa is no more with us,’ said Arjuna, and wept aloud. The moment she heard the news, Kuntīdevī gave up her life. “Kṛṣṇa alone is our life. Kṛṣṇa alone is our courage. Of what use is the Pāṇḍavas' life without Kṛṣṇa!” Feeling so, the Pāṇḍavas resolved to set out for the Himālayas. After performing the last rites for Kuntī, they crowned Parīkṣit, and the Pāṇḍavas set out towards the north. All this happened on a single day! In no kingdom and in no age has another such event taken place.
Dharmaja walked in front. Behind him walked Bhīma, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. Behind them walked Draupadī.
‘Without undergoing the karma each one has done, there is no way out for anyone, brother! On what day, in what way, who can tell? To undergo it is certain, brother!’
On the way, Draupadī, Bhīma, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva fell. In the end Dharmarāja journeyed on alone. He was one who had never once told a lie. Yet in the war, in order to put an end to Droṇa, he cried out ‘Aśvatthāmā hataḥ’ loudly and uttered the word ‘kuñjaraḥ’ under his breath. In truth, the elephant named Aśvatthāmā had died. But because the word ‘kuñjaraḥ’ (elephant) did not reach his ears, Droṇa thought that his own son Aśvatthāmā had died, and at once laid down his arms. Because Dharmaja told a lie in this way, became the cause of Droṇa's death and stooped to sin, he had to stay in hell for a short while. ‘Did even one as great as Dharmarāja, who always followed Dharma, come to hell?’ people may think. Anyone at all, whoever he may be, has to undergo the fruit of karma. While Dharmarāja was in hell, Draupadī, Bhīma, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva too were right there. The five Pāṇḍavas are the five prāṇas; they are embodiments of Dharma. That is why, as long as they were in hell, those undergoing punishment there enjoyed great happiness. They all went and fell at Dharmaja's feet: ‘If you stay here a while longer, it will be a great comfort to us,’ they said. Dharmaja told them, ‘My dear ones! I am not permitted to stay here. The lord of the world of hell is sending me away from here,’ he said. After that the Pāṇḍavas and Draupadī went on to heaven.
Do you see! Even the five Pāṇḍavas, embodiments of Dharma, embodiments of justice, holy beings, could not escape undergoing the fruit of karma. Draupadī was a great pativratā. When someone asked, ‘Who is the greatest pativratā of all in this world?’, Kṛṣṇa said,