Kunti and the Pandavas go to Ekachakra

As they were passing through a forest near the city of Panchala, they met Sage Vyasa. The Pandavas greeted him and respectfully touched his feet. He blessed them and said, "The troubles you're enduring now are part of your fate; I sympathize with what you're going through. Be patient, my children! Remember that every night is followed by a morning. I love all of you just as much as Dhritarashtra's children. Go to the village of Ekachakra and spend your days in peace there. Live comfortably and keep your identities secret until I arrive." 

Vyasa accompanied Kunti and the Pandavas to the edge of the village. He whispered to Kunti, "Don't worry about your children. They are brave and will one day rule their father's kingdom." He then bade Kunti and the Pandavas adieu and left.

The Pandavas reached Ekachakra and began to live with a Brahmin family. They, too, dressed and behaved like Brahmins. Every day they would go from house to house begging for food. Upon returning home in the evening, they would give whatever alms they had received to their mother, Kunti. Kunti would divide the food into two equal portions. She would give one portion to Bhima and divide the other portion equally among the remaining four Pandavas, leaving only a morsel for herself.

One day, when the Pandavas had gone to beg for food, Kunti heard the Brahmin's wife sobbing. She stood outside the Brahmin's wife's room and listened. The Brahmin was telling his wife, "This worldly life is filled with sorrow. I had told you long ago that we should leave this village and go somewhere else. Now look what has happened! Someone from our family will have to die today. If I die, there won't be anyone to provide for our family, and you may die of grief. If both of us die, our two children will be orphaned. I feel our only option is for all of us to commit suicide."

Through her tears, the Brahmin's wife said, "I cannot live without you. How will I bring up our children? Let me die; afterward, you may remarry. Just make sure you marry someone who will take good care of my children. Please let me go."

The Brahmin couple's daughter heard her parents crying and said, "If one of you dies, we will be orphaned. A daughter is, in any case, not regarded as part of her parents' house. She belongs to her husband's family. After marriage, I will anyway have to leave all of you. It would be better for me to die. Please allow me to go to the demon."