Pandavas are seen chatting with Drupada and the king of Virata. Now that the path of peaceful settlement is closed, they guess that war is in the offing and feel good that they can settle old scores. Krishna and Yudhishtra, who have been listening to their conversations, enter the room. All in the room except Yudhishtra seem to favor war, so Krishna is reluctant to reveal his views, but on Yudhishtra's insistence and assurance that his brothers will always abide by his decision, He expresses his belief that one should try all avenues for peace before invoking the war. Since neither the Virata king nor Drupada is willing to go to Hastinapur as a peace ambassador, Yudhishtra asks Krishna to take up the task.
Shikhandi is disappointed that war has yet not been finalized and that Krishna is set for a peace mission. Since Krishna is good at manipulating things, Shikhandi as well as Drupada are worried that Krishna would succeed in His mission, though Drishtadhyumna assures them that Krishna's is well aware of and is sympathetic to Draupadi's desire for seeking revenge. They decide to approach Krishna and unravel what is in His mind.
Drupada and Shikhandi tell Krishna that their mission in life is to kill Drona and Bhishma, a mission that cannot be carried out in case Krishna succeeds in averting the war. Krishna tells them that their goals are their individual problems and should not be mixed up in this. His job is to secure Hastinapura for the Pandavas and He would do everything possible to make this happen.
Vidura and Sulabha ask Kunti the reason for her desolate and worried look. Kunti describes what transpired between her and Duryodhana and how she blurted out that Pandavas would fight with him and grab their kingdom soon. Though she has spewed out the words as a curse, she is worried about the outcome, if indeed there is a war. Vidura tells her not to worry as Krishna is on the way on a peace mission. They take comfort in the thought that Krishna might be able to prevail upon Duryodhana to see reason. Kunti asks Vidura to bring Krishna to their abode as she would like to speak to him personally.
Pandavas (except Yudhishtra) too are worried about fulfilling their oaths, which cannot succeed in case Krishna successfully completed His mission. They decide to talk to Krishna about this. Just then Krishna goes to take leave of Abhimanyu. Abhimanyu asks Krishna why He has undertaken the mission and whether Kauravas are such a formidable force to deal with.
Krishna then enumerates the strength of Bhishma, Drona, Vidura, Duryodhana and finally, Karna. Bhishma could not be killed unless he himself willed it. Vidura has Vishnu astra that makes fighting with him a daunting task, and though he sympathizes with the Pandavas, once the war started, he would be dedicated to his duty and doubtlessly be deadly. Finally Karna. Though Karna has given away the Kavacha-kundalas, he still has the infallible Nagastra. Abhimanyu wants to know more about the Nagastra and Krishna tells him the story.
Once when the Pandavas were developing Khandavaprastha, Agni had sought Arjuna's help in devouring the forest. Under Krishna's encouragement, Arjuna had promised that he wouldn't allow a single living being. At that time, Ashwasena, the son of serpent Takshaka, tried to escape the fire with the help of his mother who swallowed him. Krishna saw this and asked Arjuna to sever the snake. Before the snake falls dead, she tells her son to take revenge on Arjuna. Ashwasena goes to his father and tells him about the incidents and asks how he could take avenge his mother's death. Since arjuna has Shiva's blessings, Takshaka asks him to pray to Lord Shiva. Shiva says Ashwasena could become an instrument in the hands of Arjuna's enemy and be the cause of his death. Even though Ashwasena is armed with this boon, he doesn't know who Arjuna's enemy is, and Takshaka directs him to Karna. Karna is unwilling to use Ashwasena, but owing to the loss of kavacha kundala, he accepts Ashwasena as the divine bow of Nagastra.
Bhishma and Vidura convey the news of Krishna's visit to King Dritarashtra and Gandhari. They impress upon the king the seriousness of the situation. Recalling how Shishupala was killed by Krishna for his impudent and insulting behavior, Bhishma tells the king and queen to instruct Duryodhana to be humble and not to behave impertinently. That is the last and the only chance to save him, he warns them.
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