The Yaksha's Questions

One day a brahmin came running and said, 'A deer has run off with my arani caught in its antlers. Without them I cannot light the sacred fire.' The five brothers chased the deer, but it escaped them. Exhausted, they sat beneath a tree. All of them were terribly thirsty. Yudhishthira sent Nakula to look for water.

Nakula found a clear lake. As he bent to drink, a voice said, 'Stop! This lake is mine. Answer my questions first, then drink.' The thirsty Nakula ignored it, drank, and fell dead on the spot. Then Sahadeva, Arjuna and Bhima came one after another, and the same happened to each. Arjuna even shot arrows at the voice.

At last Yudhishthira came himself. Seeing his four brothers dead, he trembled with grief. Then the voice spoke: a huge yaksha sat in a tree. Yudhishthira said humbly, 'I will not take what is yours without asking. Ask your questions.' The yaksha asked many questions, one after another.

The yaksha asked, 'What is faster than the wind?' Yudhishthira said, 'The mind.' 'What is more numerous than blades of grass?' 'A person's worries.' 'What is weightier than the earth?' 'A mother.' 'What is higher than the sky?' 'A father.' 'What is the greatest wonder in the world?' Yudhishthira said, 'Every day living beings go to death, yet those who remain live as if they will last forever. What could be more wondrous than that?'

The yaksha was pleased. 'I can bring one of your brothers back to life. Whom will you choose?' Yudhishthira said, 'Nakula.' The yaksha was astonished: 'Over heroes like Bhima and Arjuna?' Yudhishthira said, 'My father had two wives. Since I, a son of Kunti, am alive, a son of Madri should live too.' At this the yaksha revealed his true form: he was Dharmaraj himself, Yudhishthira's father. He restored all four brothers and blessed them that no one would recognise them during their year in hiding.