Aranya parva is the twenty ninth upa parva included in the third maha parva, named as Vana parva or Aranyaka parva in the epic Mahabharata. There are totally eighteen maha parvas, written originally in Sanskrit. Vyshampayana had narrated to Janamejaya the historical events that happened in the forests, including the procurement of Akshayapatra by Yudhishtira on his queries:
What Yudhishtira and Pandava brothers had done after losing in the dice game?
As per the terms and agreements of the dice games played twice, after losing wealth and kingdom, Yudhishtira and Pandava brothers with Draupadi had left Hastinapura and started to go out of the country to live in exile for twelve years at a forest. Some Brahmins followed them, including the priest Dhaumya Rishi, with fire worshipping materials. They had stayed under a big banyan tree on the bank of Jahnavi River called Pramana on the first night.