Reading Diary A: Yudhistira gets the Pandavas Exiled

Yudhistira accepts Duryodhana's challenge to play dice

• When the Pandavas arrive Duryodhana tells Yudhistira that he is going to be playing Shakuni instead
• Yudhistira loses all his material things and begins losing his brothers and himself
• He last bets off his wife, Draupadi, and loses her too
• Duryodhana summons her to begin work as a kitchen maid
• Duhshahana begins by stripping her clothing but Krishna protects her by always placing a new robe where the last one was stripped
• Dhritarashtra learns of this and crushes the dice
• Dhritarashtra gives Draupadi wishes in return for her treatment
• Draupadi gets her husbands and all of their things back
• Shakuni challenges Yudhistira to one last challenge and Yudhistira loses again 
• The Pandavas and Draupadi are exiled

Arjuna goes off in the forest away from the Pandavas to learn more

• Arjuna runs into Indra, his dad 
• He shoots the same deer as Shiva 
• Then, he is taken to Indra's palace in the heavens
• Indrani 
• Indra sends for Urvashi who has been madly in love with Arjuna since before this life

Vyasa begins telling Yudhistira about Nala who has had more misfortune than Yudhistira

• Nala, a king, wanted Damayanti, a princess, as his wife
• Nala caught a swan and told it to tell Damayanti about Nala
• The swan did and Damayanti fell in love with Nala before seeing him
• Damayanti was having a swayamvara and Indra, Agni, Varuna, and Yama were coming to try to win the princess too
• The gods told Nala to go to Damayanti and tell her to pick a god as her husband
• The gods disguised themselves as Nala but Damayanti figured out which one was Nala and still chose him
• Kali wanted her and became jealous and wanted to destroy their happiness
• Pushkara challenged Nala to a game of dice under Kali's request
• Kali possessed Nala and Nala lost everything
• Damayanti and Nala left the kingdom with just one robe
• Nala tried to catch some birds and lost his robe
• Nala wanted Damayanti to return to her father's kingdom so he left her in his sleep taking half of her robe to cover himself
• However, Damayanti looked for Nala instead of returning home
• The ascetics told her to go home to her father but she followed a caravan to Chedi
• The kingdom of Chedi made fun of her for her half robe and Sudeva covered her 
• Sudeva then finally convinced her to return home to wait for Nala 

Karkotoka helps Nala

• Nala rescued Karkotoka from a forest fire
• Karkotoka bit him putting poison into his blood turning him into an ugly man, named Vahuka
• He became Rituparna's charioteer because he could make his horses fast
• Parnada realized Vahuka was the king, Nala
• Pranada goes to tell Damayanti that he found Nala
• Sudeva goes to Rituparna to invite him to her "swayamvara"
• Damayanti knew Rituparna would make Vahuka drive him so Nala would come to her too
•  Vahuka asks Rituparna how to successfully gamble and Vahuka teaches Rituparna how to drive his horses so fast
•  Nala's new knowledge of gambling drove Kali out 
• Rituparna arrived to Damayanti to learn that the swayamvara was a hoax
• Damayanti sends her maidservant, Keshini, to speak to the charioteer, Vahuka
• Keshini realizes Vahuka is Nala and tells him to go to Damayanti
• Nala turns back into his original form and goes to Damayanti
• Nala and Damayanti return home and Pushkara challenges Nala to another dice game
• This time Damayanti was Pushkara's prize
• Nala wins and wins his kingdom back

Vyasa then teaches Yudhistira the knowledge of gambling dice

(Image Source: Nala and Damayanti by Ramanarayanadatta astri)