Yudhisthira

The Testing of Yudhisthira's Morality and Knowledge

During the Pandavas' twelve-year exile, the five brothers and their wife Draupadi found themselves experiencing extreme thirst in the forest. Yudhisthira, the eldest brother and leader of the group, sent the youngest brother Nakula to climb a nearby tree and search for water. Nakula, having climbed atop the tree, saw a lake close to their location and went off to find it by himself.

When Nakula neared the edge of the crystal clear water, a loud voice seeming to come from the lake itself cried out, "Stop! This lake belongs to me. Answer my questions before you drink or die!"

Nakula, not heeding this warning, immediately cupped some water in his hands and had drank it and fallen over dead before the voice had finished its sentence.

At the Pandeva's camp, Yudhisthira was wondering what could be delaying Nakula, and so sent the second youngest brother Sahadeva to investigate. Sahedeva, upon seeing the alluring reflection of the pond, also refused to listen to the voice's warning, and drank from the deadly water.

Yudhisthira then sent Arjuna, the third Pandava brother, to investigate the water. Seeing his two brothers collapsed at the edge of the water, Arjuna forgot his thirst for just a moment and shot his powerful bow into the water, releasing arrow after arrow into the water. Overcome with grief and thirst, and even as the voice continued to give its warning, Arjuna stopped his onslaught, stooped down to drink the water, and died.

Bhima, the second brother and strongest of the group, was next to arrive at the pond. Seeing his four brothers dead, Bhima lashed out with his mace against the pond, furiously striking the water. When he tired of his attack, he too drank from the lake and collapsed dead.

Finally, Yudhisthira, having sent all of his brothers only to have none return, ventured down to the lake. He saw all four of his brothers collapsed dead at the edge of the water, and his grief sparked a new pain in his being sharper than his extreme thirst. "Who could have accomplished this? Surely no mortal could fell Arjuna and his marksmanship, or best Bhima and his strength, and take down both Sahadeva and Nakula?" Yudhisthira thought to himself. "Surely this must be the work of a higher being."

Stepping into the water, Yudhisthira heard the loud voice speak to him.

"Do not drink of my lake. If you do not heed my warning, you will join your brothers as the fifth corpse on this bank. But, if you answer my questions, you may drink as much of this lake as you desire."

Yudhisthira answered, "Oh great one, truly you must have immense power to defeat all of my brothers, gifted and strong. Who are you that you would slay these innocent men searching to quench their thirst?"

At this request, the voice revealed itself to be a large yaksha that materialized out of thin air, and it reiterated its warning. "You must answer my questions and only then may you drink of my water."

"I accept your challenge, in spite of my thirst," Yudhisthira answered, desperate for a way to bring his brothers back.

The loud voice immediately began a long line of grueling questioning. Questions ranging from all disciplines of philosophy, morality, and duty were asked, sometimes four in one breath. Yudhisthira was forced to answer every question without more than a single thought, at risk of falling behind in the questions and angering the yakhsa further.

"What is important to those who sow? What is important to those who seek prosperity?" the yaksha questioned.

"Rain. Offspring." Yudhisthira answered quickly.

"What remains immobile after being born?"

"Egg."

"Who is the friend of the exile?"

"The companion on the way."

The more questions the yaksha asked, the more tired and more thirsty that Yudhisthira became. The yakhsa began his final questions.

"What is one's highest duty? What is faster than the wind? What is the greatest wonder?"

"To refrain from energy. Mind. That people die and corpses are carried through the streets, yet onlookers still think that they will live forever."

At the end of these last questions, the yaksha said that Yudhisthira could pick one of his brothers to revive.

Yudhisthira thought for a moment, and responded, "If I only have one brother, then let my youngest brother, Nakula, rise."

The yaksha said, "Nakula is your stepbrother, is he not? I would think that you would choose dear Arjuna or Bhima."

"They are very dear to me, this is true," Yudhisthira responded, "but if only two sons of our family were to survive, I would want one of the sons of my other mother Madri to live in her honor."

"You have pleased me much with your humility and the sagacity of your answers. Now let all your brothers rise," the yaksha said. "In addition, wherever you go hence, may you have the blessing of being unrecognized." For this 'yaksha' was none other than Yama, the God of Death and Justice, and the father of Yudhisthira. He had come to test Yudhisthira's willpower and wisdom, and grant him a gift for the remainder of his exile.

Of those phenomena which arise from causes:

Those causes have been taught by the Tathāgata (Buddha),

And their cessation too - thus proclaims the Great Ascetic.

Author's Note: This story originally really interested me because of Yudhisthira's perseverance and humility, especially when he chose to save Nakula so that his other mother Madri could have a surviving son. This logical approach in a very tense environment impressed me! This sense of duty even in trying times is such a good example of dharma that it was obvious to include that word as one of the Sanskrit words! Dharma is such a unique concept involving duty (to one's family, one's caste, etc) as well as ties into religion and morality, that many translators leave this word as dharma! The mantra in this page actually comes from a sacred Buddhist text about dharma, which brings the added point that dharma transcends even religious boundaries, making its translation that much more difficult! Another translation problem in this story involves all the riddles that Yama asks Yudhisthira. Riddles involve so much information, such as word play, semantic range, rhythm, and context, but translators often have to pick and choose which one of these qualities they want to keep. Just as we saw from the previous story with Ganga and Shiva, a translator has the important job of trying to preserve as much as the original experience of the original text as possible, a grueling task not unlike Yudhisthira's test.