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A deceptive plot was hatched by Duryodhana and his friends, to get the Pandavas, along with their mother Kunti, killed at Varnavata.
However, the Pandavas were forewarned by Vidura about the possibility of danger to their lives, during the stay at Varnavata.
Eventually, the Pandavas escaped the danger and the death-trap at Varnavata. How did the Pandavas escape the death- trap at Varnavata? What are the details of the incident?
The details (briefly) go thus: the citizens felt that the eldest Kuru-son should become now the King as the present King was old and blind. Duryodhan went mad with jealousy and the old resentment against the Pandavs all came back. He then requested his father to send the Pandavs and Kunti to Varnavat on some pretext. Dhritarashtra was not easily persuaded but his son convinced him anyway. In a few days, when the festival of Pashupati was about to be celebrated in Varnavat, the Pandavs and Kunti wished to attend it. Dhristarashtra saw this as an opportunity and spoke a lot about the festival and the delights of the city, in order to make them go. Meanwhile, Duryodhan and his brothers and friends start to win over the people's hearts by being very generous with the state's treasure. When the Pandavs actually go to Varnavat, Duryodhan, unbeknownst to his father, already has a house of lac and other inflammable materials built there. Vidur warns the Pandavs with riddles before they go and Yudhishthir being intelligent, finds the hidden meaning of his words and suspects great danger, so the brothers spend their days in Varnavat cautiously. Vidur later sends a helper to dig a tunnel under the house for them to get away. After the tunnel is finished, Bhim (2nd Pandav) sets fire to the house and gets out by the tunnel. Vidur makes sure that the architect, the tribal woman and her sons who built the house of lac die in the fire, so that the news of the Pandav's death will spread everywhere and they will have some peace before they decide to come back home.
The details of the story are available in Mahabharata Book 1, Adi Parva, Jatugriha Parva,
Mahabharat Book 1 - > Jatugriha Parva. I am sure I have not got all the great details, but you can read the story in this chapter.
Due to Vidura.
https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m01/m01096.htm
The Pandavas were then taken (by Bhishma). They then represented the death of their father and performed his last honours duly. And as they were brought up there, Duryodhana became exceedingly jealous of them. And the sinful Duryodhana acting like Rakshasa tried various means to drive them away. But what must be can never be frustrated. So all Duryodhana's efforts proved futile. Then Dhritarashtra sent them, by an act of deception to Varanavata, and they went there willingly. There an endeavour was made to burn them to death; but it proved abortive owing to the warning counsels of Vidura.
