The Beautiful Trap
The house at Varanavata was magnificent — perfectly built, beautifully furnished. Everything in it was flammable: the walls made of lac mixed with oil, the furniture of straw and hemp, the support beams soaked in combustible material.
Duryodhana's agent Purochana had built it and lived nearby, waiting for the right moment.
Vidura's Warning
Before the Pandavas left for Varanavata, their uncle Vidura spoke to Yudhishthira in a dialect of the Mleccha language that Duryodhana's spies could not understand.
He said: "The weapon that is not made of iron can still kill. Fire starts from roots. Know the forest paths. A hunter who knows the forest never dies in it."
Yudhishthira understood. He acknowledged with a nod.
The Tunnel
Vidura sent a miner to them in secret. The miner dug a tunnel under the house, hidden beneath a room, its exit in the forest by the river. He worked quietly for a year while the Pandavas lived normally, waiting.
On a festival night when Purochana was drunk, Kunti fed poor people generously. Among the guests was a woman with five sons who stayed overnight.
After midnight, the Pandavas set fire to the house themselves — starting from Purochana's room. They escaped through the tunnel. The woman and her five sons died in the fire, unrecognized — their bodies were counted as the Pandavas.
Duryodhana celebrated briefly. The Pandavas were alive in the forest.