Tṛṇabindu Sarovara is a sacred lake (sarovara) in Kāmyakavana. It is named after the ṛshi Tṛṇabindu, who lived there. In the Mahābhārata the Pāṇḍavas moved from Dvaitavana to Kāmyakavana, to the region near this lake, for the later part of their twelve years in the forest.

The presence of Tṛṇabindu made the forest around the lake holy. The forest is pleasant and rich, filled with countless deer, a purer part of Kāmyakavana at the edge of a wilderness. In this region came the Draupadī-haraṇa (the carrying away of Draupadī) and the Yaksha Praśna (the questions of the yaksha).

Arrival of the Pāṇḍavas

In Chapter 258 of the Vana Parva (Kāmyaka-praveśa, the entry into Kāmyaka), the deer of Dvaitavana appeared to Yudhishṭhira in a dream. They were weeping. They begged him not to hunt them until none were left, and told him that only a few remained and that the Pāṇḍavas’ stay would finish even those. Yudhishṭhira felt pity and decided to move the camp. He told his brothers:

“We shall go to the Kāmyakavana, which stands at the head of the desert, to the Tṛṇabindu sarovara, teeming with countless deer, and spend the remaining time of our exile there in wandering and observation.”

The Pāṇḍavas left Dvaitavana at once with all the brāhmaṇas and their followers, including the charioteer Indraseṇa. They went by the open roads that travellers always used and reached the pure Kāmyakavana, rich in tapas, and settled there.

The ṛshi Tṛṇabindu

The lake is linked with the ṛshi Tṛṇabindu, who is counted among the great tapasvīs of the Kāmyakavana region. In Chapter 269 the Pāṇḍavas went on a hunting trip to protect the brāhmaṇas from wild animals. They went with the clear leave (anujñā) of both Dhaumya the purohita and Tṛṇabindu Maharshi. Draupadī was left alone at the āśrama under their general care while the Pāṇḍavas were away. In that time Jayadratha arrived and the carrying away took place.

Significance

Tṛṇabindu Sarovara lies in the region of the most dramatic episodes of the late Vana Parva:

the Draupadī-haraṇa (Chapters 264–272)
the Rāmopākhyāna (Chapters 273–292)
the Sāvitrī Upākhyāna (Chapters 293–299)
the Kuṇḍalahāra Parva (Chapters 300–310)
the Yaksha Praśna (Chapters 311–315)

It is a sacred lake presided over by a great ṛshi, in a forest rich with deer. It is where the Pāṇḍavas lived in the last part of their vana-vāsa (forest exile), before the ajñātavāsa (the year of living unknown) began.

Sources

Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapter 258 (Kāmyaka-praveśa)
Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapter 269
Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapters 264–315 (the episodes named above)