Continuing with the Yaksha Prashna series, here I am going
to explain the entire event and then in future posts (if my wayward mind is
interested in writing them), I will explain most of the key questions and
answers between Yudhishtira and the Yaksha. To understand the episode of Yaksha
Prashna, we have to rewind back a little earlier. Let me set the context.
Yaksha Prashna (YP for short) occurs towards the very end of
Vana Parva. In the Vana Parva, Pandavas are going through their exile in forest.
Remember, they had to suffer 12 years of exile and 1 year of incognito as per
the terms of the dice game they had lost to the Kauravas. Now a little over eleven
years have passed by – till then there have been a few incidents of danger and
adventure in a largely peaceful, almost pilgrimage-like exile for the Pandavas.
When I read the Vana Parva, in detail I will comment about it, but with my
limited knowledge it seems that it was like a long vacation kind of experience,
where they met many rishis, got lot of spiritual knowledge and were able to
learn how to deal with the pain of losing everything – kingdom, power, riches and
most importantly the humiliation in the Kaurava Sabha.
But as the exile period came towards a close, the Pandavas
faced challenges and troubles. Jayadratha, the brother-in-law of the Pandavas,
husband of Dushala (Dhritirashtra’s only daughter), who was the king of Sindhu
(I guess modern Sindh in Pakistan), abducted Draupadi and the Pandavas had to
defeat Jayadratha to rescue Draupadi. Yudhishtira forgives Jayadratha and apart
from the humiliation of shaving his head, leaving 5 hideous tufts of hair on
his scalp, he is allowed to leave. Jayadratha does have his revenge later in
the Mahabharata War and becomes the cause of Abhimanyu’s death.
At this point, I just want to point out the parallels between
Ramayana and Mahabharata between the stories of Rama and Yudhishtira, and Sita
and Draupadi. Rama loses his kingdom, has to suffer exile, so does Yudhishtira.
Both have to experience their wives suffering humiliation. In case of Draupadi
there are three painful situations where her modesty is attempted to be
outraged, yet she is protected. In case of Sita, it is one full year of pain
and danger, yet apart from the abduction from forest, Ravana is not able to
touch her again. By the way the three situations for Draupadi were – the disrobing
in the Kaurava Sabha during dice game, then abduction by Jayadratha and then Kichaka’s
attempt to molest her during the incognito period. Both Yudhishtira and Rama
show great ability to bear pain, yet be forgiving, and calm in the face of
outrages against them.
Anyway coming back to the story, so apart from the misadventure
by Jayadratha, Yudhishtira also was troubled by the thought of how to get
through their incognito exile part. This was the toughest period of exile. They
had to remain undetected for one year. And the Pandavas are extraordinary
individuals, its difficult for them to merge in the tapestry, so to speak.
Yudhishtira being the king was responsible for all of their well being and this
was weighing heavily over his mind.
Then one day, further challenges came their way. It so
happened that one of their neighbours a Brahmana came across an unexpectedly
problematic situation and got the Pandavas entangled in this. The Pandavas,
obviously lived in the vicinity of Rishis and hermits. One such person a
Brahmana was one day going about his rituals, when a deer prancing around got
the fire-kindling sticks and churning rod of the Brahmana entangled in its antlers.
Before the Brahmana could reach it, it startled and ran away carrying both the important
implements of the poor hermit along with it.
The Brahmana went to Yudhishtira for help. And when the king
got to know this, he immediately alongwith all his brother went into the forest
to seek out the deer. They located it after a while and shot arrows to shoot it
down. Yet surprisingly those arrows had no impact whatsoever on the deer. The
deer ran away again and the Pandavas chased behind it. After running behind it
for a long while, they were tired, hungry and thirsty. They stopped awhile and
Nakula bemoaned that what calamity has befallen them that all of them put
together couldn’t fell a deer. Yudhishtira consoled him saying that when the
times are bad, then everything works against and one has to but keep his cool.
Then
he asked Nakula to climb up a tree and see if he could spot any water source
nearby. Nakula obeyed and after climbing the tree, he could see at not an
inconsiderable distance dense foliage with cranes and other birds flying by and
he said, that the place must surely have some lake or pond. Yudhishtira asked
him to take all of their quivers and bring water in it for all of them.
Nakula reached near the lake. It was a serene lake in
beautiful surroundings, abounding in many birds, dense flora and fauna. Admiring
this, he bent down to slake his thirst, when he was stopped by a voice which asked
him not to drink any water without answering it’s questions. Nakula disregarded
this and drank the water. Immediately he fell down dead as if he had poison.
The remaining brothers waited for quite a while, when
Yudhishtira, getting concerned for Nakula over the delay asked Sahadeva to go
and investigate. What happened to Sahadeva was similar to Nakula, he went there,
tried to drink the water. He was accosted by the voice, but disregarded it and
drank the water and he too dropped dead immediately. Then Yudhishtira getting
concerned for Sahadeva and Nakula, sent Arjuna to investigate. I will not belabor
further because what happened with the remaining brothers was pretty similar (accommodating
for slight differences in their personality), with finally Bhima suffering the
same fate.
So now imagine Yudhishtira’s situation. Since morning he has
been chasing an elusive deer and all of his mighty brothers along with him couldn’t
get back the kindling sticks and churning rod of a poor brahmana, these great
Pandavas who had conquered so many kingdoms, conducted a Rajasuya Yajna,
against whom even devatas and gandharvas had trepidation fighting, were
absolutely helpless. Now hungry and thirsty, for the past few hours he has seen
each of his beloved brothers disappear one after another. Assuming he would
have waited for around half an hour for each brother, he must have waited two
to three hours by now in that state of hunger and thirst. And then Yudhishtira
himself proceeds towards the lake. He finds a beautiful place. But just near
the banks lay all his four brothers dead. Looking at them, he falls into grief
and bemoans their death. He cries and wonders what power must have taken their
life.
Now I will just compare his reaction to that of Bhima. When
Bhima came to the lake some time earlier, he had seen three of his brothers
dead. Immediately the alert warrior in him took over, he looked hither and
thither, then decided that today he must have to fight. So thinking, he said to
himself that first let him quench his thirst and then get ready to fight. That’s
when the voice at the pond told him to desist and answer his questions. Bhima,
obviously disregarded this and fell down dead. Yudhishtira, on the other hand,
had the heart of a sadhu, a compassionate person. As soon as he saw his dead
brothers, he forgot all about his thirst and hunger, he even disregarded that
he must himself be in danger in that place. Instead he held each of his brothers
in his arms and bemoaned their end. After a while, he wondered how they must
have been killed. He looked at the water, it didn’t seem poisonous. Neither did
his brothers look as if they have been killed by poison. Its quite interesting
that despite being in a physically exhausted condition, mentally in shock due
to the sudden death of his brothers, his viveka or intellectual discrimination
is still active and he logically tries to deduce what has happened to his
brothers. I think this level of control over oneself is absolutely amazing.
At that time, when Yudhishtira was contemplating, the mysterious
voice called out to Yudhishtira and said that he ought to answer his questions
and then he can drink his fill. However if he didn’t answer the questions, he
must not attempt to drink the water, else he will meet the same fate that befell
his brothers.
Yudhishtira, humbly folded his hands, and asked the voice
who it is. The voice revealed itself to be a crane. The voice said that his
other brothers didn’t pay heed to the fact that the pond belonged to it and he
hoped that Yudhishtira will not try to forcefully avail it’s usage. Yudhishtira
assured the crane that he respected it’s right of possession and will not violate
Dharma by trying to have water without the crane’s permission. Yet, he said
that it is not possible that such phenomenal warriors such as his brothers
could be killed by a crane and hence asked the voice to truly reveal who it is.
The crane replied that it is a Yaksha, and that this pond was under his
protection. The Yaksha again asked Yudhistira to answer its questions.
Yudhishtira said, that he will try his best to answer the questions posed and
modestly said, that it didn’t behove a person to praise themselves.
Then the Yaksha posed several questions. The number and range
of questions asked are astonishing. The questions and answers run into around
85 shlokas, with over 40 shlokas of questions from the Yaksha. And these are
not questions like – whats your name, where do you come from, whats your favorite
colour. Each question is of deep philosophy or about Dharma, the right behavior
and attitude towards life. We don’t know for sure, if Yudhishtira answered
immediately or he thought before answering. And please keep in mind, the physical
condition of Yudhishtira, his psychological condition facing the death of his
brothers, and yet he is able to compose himself in order to answer these questions.
I think, this is like the culmination of a commando training program of sorts.
The first question itself is this – “What makes the Sun rise
up, what accompanying it on all sides, walk along with it, what sets the Sun,
and where is it established thereafter?”
No favorite dish type of question this.
Yudhishtira answers – “Brahma makes the Sun rise up, Devatas
walk along with it, surrounding it on all sides, Dharma sets the Sun and it is
established in Truth thereafter”
This may seem like random answer, but its deep philosophy and
I believe, it gives the theoretical understanding of Atman or soul – for the
Sun referred to here, is nothing but the Atman. I will explain this in depth in
my next post. But the reason of mentioning this here is to show the level of
questions and answers exchanged.
And so on the Yaksha and the Yudhistira had their question
and answer session, at least for two to three hours, for to ask 40 questions
and get as many answers would require that much time. At the end of it, the
Yaksha was satisfied and happy that all his questions were answered. So happy
he was that he not only was ready to allow Yudhishtira to drink the water, but
also gave him a boon to choose one of his brothers to come back to life.
Now lets think for a moment – you have come out with flying
colours through a tough exam, a person could relax at this moment and heave a
sigh of relief. But this is deceptive, for actually Yudhishtira toughest test
was now. And man! How well he performed even now. Don’t forget, he must have
not had a morsel of food, a drop of water since morning and need not repeat the
rest of the situation, which I have mentioned before. Without hesitating
Yudhishtira chooses Nakula. The Yaksha is surprised and asks him the reason for
such a decision. He is a king and would have done much better choosing Bhima
and Arjuna, who were more powerful warriors, besides being his co-uterine
brothers, unlike Nakula and Sahadeva who were the sons of his step-mother
Madri. Yudhishtira replied that it was proper that at least one son each of both
his mothers – Kunti and Madri were alive. You see it’s a question of Dharma, of
fairness. You know, Dharma is also fairness, by the way, amongst other things.
The Yaksha is pleased with this answer and then asks him –
what if he said that one more of his brothers could leave. If so, which one
would Yudhishtira choose. The king, the great descendant of Bharata replied
that in such case he would have chosen Sahadeva. Again the Yaksha asks, why it
was so. And Yudhishtira replied that Sahadeva was the youngest and so has
higher right to live longer. Its about Dharma, being the youngest Sahadeva had
lived lesser time than his elder brothers. So he must get that chance. The
Yaksha is so pleased that he grants life to all his brothers.
Then Yudhishtira tells the being, that surely you must not
be a Yaksha, for it is not possible for a Yaksha to grant lives. You must be
the highest among the high Gods. The Yaksha then reveals himself to Dharma himself,
the devata of Dharma (I will not even attempt to translate this untranslatable
word) – but Dharma is equated with Yama, because He is the Ultimate last word
on law, on righteousness, on morality, on good sense, on the rhythm that keeps
the samsara, or material world going. Yudhishtira, himself was the son of
Dharma. So it was none else but his father, who was in front of him now.
Dharma applauds Yudhishtira’s great qualities of patience,
calmness, good sense of fairness, the right way, the right manner, the right
everything. It was Dharma himself who disguised as a deer created the trouble
in the morning and lured the Pandavas towards this pond. Dharma asks Yudhistira
to avail a boon.
Yudhistira could have probably asked anything, but he asks only
for the fire-kindling sticks and churning rod of the brahmana. This Dharma
readily grants, but asks him to ask for a boon more. Yudhisthira then asks that
his family should be protected during the incognito period, they should remain
undetected. This again Dharma grants, saying that whatever form they choose to
disguise themselves in, they will remain undetected.
Yet Dharma is not
satisfied and asks Yudhistira for one boon more. Then only does Yudhishtira
deems to asks something for himself, but that too is not what one would
expects. He says “O Lord, grant me that I am able to overcome krodha (anger),
lobha (avarice) and moha (delusion) and my heart always be in the satya (truth),
dana (giving to others) and tapa (penance).” The devata lauds Yudhishtira,
saying that he is the embodiment of Dharma himself and that by birth this was his
nature, and so it will be in future as well. Thus pronouncing, the God disappears
and all the Pandavas come back to life. And the story ends on a happy note.
Please note how even at the end, when Yudhishtira is given a
boon, first he asks for his praja, the brahmana who had come seeking his help.
Then again when he was told to avail a boon, he asks for a boon for his family,
thus discharging his responsibility as the head of his family. And only at the last
instance asks for himself. Even then, he doesn’t ask for any material benefit
like kingdom or riches or power or wishing anything bad to the Kauravas. He
could have asked for justice from Dharma devata himself. Yet he asks for victory
over anger and other weaknesses.
While the questions in Yaksha Prashna themselves give lot of
learning about how to live life in a righteous manner, the way Yudhishtira
behaves throughout this episode is an experiential example of a Dharmic
conduct. How difficult it is just to control anger. Despite lots of japa and
tapa, one loses his cool in a moment. Yet here was Yudhishtira, who in the most
trying of circumstances didn’t even lose a breathe in anger. It was not just
maintenance of an external composure, but he was calm from within. That’s why
he was able to answer questions of deep spiritual import with clarity and lucidity.
I pray to the Lord to enable me to understand and write
about these questions and answers in future.
Saluting Rishi Parasara, Rishi Vyasa and all my preceptors,
I close this account.
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