Yakṣapraśnaḥ - Continued

Yakṣapraśna is a section of the Āraṇaya-parva of the Mahābhārata, that elaborates the subtle nuances of dharma. It is presented as a dialogue between the first Pāṇḍava, Yudhiṣṭhira, and a yakṣa or a supernatural being. The anecdote of the Mahābhārata goes as follows – Once while the Pāṇḍavas were living in exile, a brāhmaṇa approached them and requested that they retrieve his fire-stoking sticks. The sticks had gotten entangled in the horns of a stag, and the frightened stag had galloped away along with the sticks. As the brāhmaṇa required the stoking sticks for his daily worship of the sacred fire, the Pāṇḍavas saw it as their duty as Kṣatriyas to restore the sticks. They chased after the stag but to no avail. Exhausted, they sat down under a mighty tree, weary with thirst. The oldest Pāṇḍava turned to the youngest of them, Nakula, and asked him to locate a water source nearby so that they could all quench their thirst. Nakula immediately set out as ordered and found a limpid lake filled with water. Overjoyed and relieved, he entered the cool lake only to be interrupted by a disembodied voice. It cried, “do not touch the water before you answer my questions.” Nakula was however too thirsty to pay heed. He disregarded the voice and drank from the lake and fell dead. In the meanwhile, Yudhiṣṭhira was alarmed by Nakula’s delay. He sent Sahadeva to look for Nakula. Sahadeva looked everywhere before reaching the lake to find his brother lying motionless on the ground. Deeply troubled Sahadeva rushed forward, but went on ahead towards the lake as his thirst got the better of him. The very same forbidding voice called out to Sahadeva, and he too disregarded it to meet with the same fate; Sahadeva too fell dead. It was Arjuna’s turn next to be challenged by the mysterious voice. Slighted that a disembodied voice would dictate to him, Arjuna cried, “if you will, challenge me after revealing yourself to me. Once you have been pierced by my sharp shafts, you will no longer address me in this vein.” With these words, Arjuna released arrows fortified by sacred mantras in all directions and then overcome by thirst, proceeded towards the lake. Disregarding the warning of the disembodied voice that Arjuna may partake of the water only after answering his questions, he drank from the lake and fell dead. When Arjuna too failed to return, Yudhiṣṭhira commissioned the powerful Bhīma to seek the missing brothers out. Bhīma soon arrived by the lake and was deeply distressed to find his brothers in that plight. He concluded that some rākṣasa had indeed attacked his siblings and felled them. He decided to quench his thirst in the lake so that he could fight the rākṣasa responsible. He proceeded towards the lake and was cautioned by the same disembodied voice. It called to Bhīma, “son, I own this lake. Do not partake of its water unless you answer my questions. Once you have addressed my questions, you may quench your thirst and also carry as much water with you as you please.” Bhīma’s thirst however, got the better of him. He too disregarded the words of the yakṣa to his own detriment. Bhīma too met with the same fate, thus leaving all the Pāṇḍava brothers other than Yudhiṣṭhira dead. With all his siblings missing, Yudhiṣṭhira set out himself, seeking to find out what was delaying his brothers. He searched the vicinity and soon arrived by the lake to the disturbing sight of his felled brothers. Deeply anguished, he pondered how these mighty warriors could have been felled by anyone. He recognized immediately that this was the handiwork of no mortal. He concluded that some divine phenomenon must have effected this horrendous fate. With a heavy heart he proceeded towards the lake in order to perform the last rites of his siblings, when a strange voice rang in the sky. Perplexed, Yudhiṣṭhira began cajoling the voice to reveal his identity. Cajoled humbly, the voice revealed his form and introduced himself as a yakṣa. He added that Yudhiṣṭhira may enter the lake only after having answered the questions he posed. Thus begins a dialogue between Yudhiṣṭhira and the yakṣa, presented in the Mahabhārata as thirty-three thought-provoking questions of the yakṣa and Yudhiṣṭhira’s answers to them. The dialogue presents in a nutshell, the dharmic sensibilities of Bhāratīya culture. A few of the questions posed and answered have been presented in a previous blog-article and here are a few more – Yakṣa: किंस्वित्प्रवसतो मित्रं किंस्विन्मित्रं गृहे स्थितः। आतुरस्य च किंमित्रं किंस्विन्मित्रं मरिष्यतः॥ kiṁsvitpravasato mitraṁ kiṁsvinmitraṁ gṛhe sthitaḥ| āturasya ca kiṁmitraṁ kiṁsvinmitraṁ mariṣyataḥ|| Who is the friend of one who lives in a foreign land? Who is the friend of one who remains at home? Who is the friend of the ill and that of one who is dying? - Yakṣapraśna, 297.44 Yudhiṣṭhira: सार्थः प्रवसतो मित्रं भार्या मित्रं गृहे सतः। आतुरस्य भिषङ्मित्रं दानं मित्रं मरिष्यतः॥ sārthaḥ pravasato mitraṁ bhāryā mitraṁ gṛhe sataḥ| āturasya bhiṣaṅmitraṁ dānaṁ mitraṁ mariṣyataḥ|| Wealth is the comrade of a man living in a foreign land, a wife that of a man homebound, the physician is the friend of an ailing man, and charity is the friend of the dying. - Yakṣapraśna, 297.45 Yakṣa: तपः किं लक्षणं प्रोक्तं को दमश्च प्रकीर्तितः। क्षमा च का परा प्रोक्ता का च ह्रीः परिकीर्तिता॥ tapaḥ kiṁ lakṣaṇaṁ proktaṁ ko damaśca prakīrtitaḥ| kṣamā ca kā parā proktā kā ca hrīḥ parikīrtitā|| How is penance defined, and what is said to be restraint? What is spoken of as forbearance, and what is modesty? - Yakṣapraśna, 297.68 Yudhiṣṭhira: तपः स्वधर्मवर्तित्वं मनसो दमनं दमः। क्षमा द्वन्द्वसहिष्णुत्वं ह्रीरकार्यनिवर्तनं॥ Penance is adherence to one’s duties, while the reining in of one’s mind is restraint. Forbearance is patience during conflict and modesty is refraining from unbecoming deeds. - Yakṣapraśna, 297.69 Yakṣa: कः शत्रुर्दुर्जयः पुंसां कश्च व्याधिरनन्तकः। कीदृशश्च स्मृतः साधुरसाधुः कीदृशः स्मृतः॥ kaḥ śatrurdurjayaḥ puṁsāṁ kaśca vyādhiranantakaḥ| kīdṛśaśca smṛtaḥ sādhurasādhuḥ kīdṛśaḥ smṛtaḥ|| Who is an insurmountable foe to man? What comprises an incurable disease? Who is thought of as a noble man, and who an ignoble one? - Yakṣapraśna, 297.72 Yudhiṣṭhira: क्रोधः सुदुर्जयः शत्रुर्लोभो व्याधिरनन्तकः। सर्वभूतहितः साधुरसाधुर्निर्दयः स्मृतः॥ krodhaḥ sudurjayaḥ śatrurlobho vyādhiranantakaḥ| sarvabhūtahitaḥ sādhurasādhurnirdayaḥ smṛtaḥ|| Anger is an invincible foe and greed an incurable disease. Nobility is the desire for the well-being of all and ignobility is mercilessness. - Yakṣapraśna, 297.73 Yakṣa: धर्मश्चार्थश्च कामश्च परस्परविरोधिनः। एषां नित्यविरुद्धानां कथमेकत्र सङ्गमः॥ dharmaścārthaśca kāmaśca parasparavirodhinaḥ| eṣāṁ nityaviruddhānāṁ kathamekatra saṅgamaḥ|| How can the mutually and eternally opposed dharma (righteousness), artha (wealth) and kāma (desire) unite at any juncture? - Yakṣapraśna, 297.82 Yudhiṣṭhira: यदा धर्मश्च भार्या च परस्परवशानुगौ। तदा धर्मार्थकामानां त्रयाणामपि सङ्गमः॥ yadā dharmaśca bhāryā ca parasparavaśānugau| tadā dharmārthakāmānāṁ trayāṇāmapi saṅgamaḥ|| When wealth and wife are in consonance with one another (and within the sway of man), then the three entities of dharma, artha and kāma can coexist. Yudhiṣṭhira thus answered all the questions put forth to him by the yakṣa. Pleased with Yudhiṣṭhira, the yakṣa informed the Pāṇḍava that he could choose to revive any one of the brothers. Without any hesitation Yudhiṣṭhira sought that Nakula be revived. Surprised by the response, the yakṣa asked Yudhiṣṭhira, “Bhīma is dear to you and you depend on the mighty Arjuna. With that being the case, why have you chosen to revive Nakula, who is but a half-brother to you?” Said the righteous Yudhiṣṭhira in response, “I have two mothers, Kuntī and Mādrī, and look upon them both with equal regard and love. Kuntī has a son in me and Mādrī too should have a son. Hence let Nakula be resuscitated.” When the yakṣa noticed that Yudhiśṭhira’s dhārmic sensibilities did not stop with eloquent words but enriched his everyday life too, he was supremely pleased. He revived all the Pānḍava brothers who had been felled.

Yakṣapraśnaḥ – Continued

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