Mahaprasthanika Parva

With Krishna gone and the age turning, the Pandavas crown Parikshit at Hastinapura and set out on foot toward the Himalayas and Mount Meru, renouncing everything they own. A dog attaches itself to them and follows. One by one they fall on the way, and Yudhishthira explains each death as the ripening of a private flaw: Draupadi's partiality for Arjuna, Sahadeva's pride in his learning, Nakula's in his beauty, Arjuna's boast, Bhima's greed. Only Yudhishthira reaches the gate of heaven, and he refuses to enter unless the dog, who is Dharma himself in disguise, is admitted with him.