Week 10 Storytelling: Yudhistira and the Yaksha

In pursuit of an extraordinary deer that robbed a poor Brahmin of his possessions, Yudhistira and his brothers were led deep into a forest. With each deer sighting, the Pandavas were rejuvenated with a surge of confidence and the followed the deer farther and farther into the forest until they could no longer recognize their surroundings. In a desperate attempt to find their way out of the forest, Nakula climbed the tallest tree to reach a better vantage point. From the top of the tree, Nakula spotted a crystal-clear lake nearby. He was so exhausted and thirsty that he quickly scramble back down the tree and raced toward the refreshing body of water without saying a word to his brothers.

When Nakula reached the lake he immediately dove in, paying no attention to the mysterious voice that warned him against drinking the water. As soon as the lake’s water touched Nakula’s lips, he fell dead. One at a time, the Pandavas reached the lake and paid no attention to their dead brothers or the increasingly threatening voice that tried to warn them against drinking from the lake. When Yudhistira finally arrived, he took immediate notice to the pile of his brothers’ bodies and heard the furious yaksha’s voice. “Now that I have gained your attention, let me help you avoid the same fate that your brothers have so foolishly earned. If you can respond to my riddles, I will give you unlimited access to my water, but if you drink from the lake before our game is complete, you will suffer the same fate as the rest of the Pandavas. Are you ready to play?”

Yudhistira knew that he did not have much of a choice and feared what might happen if he upset the yaksha. “I’m ready when you are.” he responded. The yaksha began with an easy riddle: “How can one acquire intelligence?” “That’s easy, wisdom is gained by serving the old.” Yudhistira responded. Noticing Yudhistira’s confidence, the yaksha wasted no time between riddles. “What is more numerous than grass?” “Another easy one, our thoughts may be the only thing more numerous than the blades of grass. After such a dramatic introduction, the least you can do is challenge me!” Yudhistira insisted. “What is the remedy against cold?” Yudhistira paused for a second. Yudhistira could not think of any proven cure for a cold but then it occurred to him: “Fire is the remedy against cold!” The yaksha was not amused by Yudhistira’s performance or his arrogance and decided to step it up a notch: “What is the soul of man? Who is that friend bestowed on man by the gods?” Yudhistira was far more familiar with these concepts than he was with those of the previous riddle, thus he responded immediately. “A man’s son is his soul, and his wife is the friend bestowed by the gods. Now let’s wrap this game up, I think it’s safe to assume that I’ve adequately responded enough of your riddles.” Unloading a final frenzy of questions, the yaksha shouted “What is the most valuable of all possessions? What is the best of all gains? And what is the best of all kinds of happiness?” Yudhistira laughed as he prepared to answer the final riddles, for these were questions to which he had already applied much thought. “The best of all possessions is knowledge; the best of all gains is health; and the best of happiness is found in contentment.”

The yaksha turned out to be a very honorable creature once he realized that he had been defeated at his own game and offered to revive all of Yudhistira’s brothers. As the Pandavas regained consciousness, he cautioned each of them not to act in haste and always be mindful of their surroundings (a piece of advice that will surely help them in the years to come).

 

Author’s Note:

When I saw this option on the list of prompts, I thought that it would be cool to take a look at some of the riddles from another version of the Mahabharata. After reading through the list, I chose a few of my favorites and recreated the story of Yudhistira and the Yaksha. Overall, most of my story is very similar to Narayan’s version. However, I tried to portray Yudhistira as a much more confident, almost arrogant character. When I read the original story, I got the sense that he might tend to lose himself in games and not pay much attention to how he might be offending those around him. Some of the riddles that I used also came from a different source, but I listed it in the bibliography as well.

 

Bibliography:

Narayan, R. K. (1978). The Mahabharata

Mahabharata – Ganguli translation

 

Image Information:

Clear Lake: AmegaSciences

Week 10: Reading Diary B

Action:

• Yudhistira is struck by his conscience and starts to think of ways to make peace with his kinsmen.

• Yudhistira is right to worry about Krishna’s safety if he goes to speak with Duryodhana. I really don’t understand how everybody seems to overlook how malicious he is, as if appealing to his reason might someday persuade him to make a logical decision. Duryodhana reminds me of Ravana. Surely he acknowledges hos reckless his actions are, but he won’t accept a peaceful conclusion.

• Vidura seems like a pretty rational character, too bad his advice has no influence on Dhritarashtra.

• Another thing that I don’t understand is how Duryodhana can expect a war against his cousins to end well for him. The Pandavas have proven time and time again that they are much better warriors and far more rational people, yet Duryodhana thinks that he can beat them in battle.

 

Hesitant Hero:

• So before the battle began, Yudhistira took off his armor and walked across the battle field to bow to Drona and touch the feet of Bhishma before returning to his side. The Kauravas thought that Yudhistira was coming to beg for mercy, but it seems that he did this as a sign of respect for his kinsmen and the other elders before they are slain in battle. I don’t know how this act ultimately made Yudhistira’s opponents feel, but it probably did not provide any boost to their morale.

• Arjuna does not wish to fight the members of Duryodhana’s army.

• The battle is said to last 18 days.

 

Delirium of Destruction:

• Arjuna basically uses a woman named Sikandi as a shield so that he can get close enough to kill Bhishma, who was taking quite a toll on the Pandavas’ army. When Bhishma realizes that Arjuna is hiding behind the woman, he attempts to throw a javelin at Arjuna but the spear is parried and Arjuna sticks several arrows in him. Both sides stop fighting when Bhishma falls.

• Apparently Duryodhana gets the bright idea that the solution to the war is capturing Yudhistira and challenging him to another round of dice so that he can be exiled for another 12 years. Not sure how that’s supposed to work… “Stop the war so we can play dice! Oh, looks like you lost at dice so now you’re exiled and the war cannot continue.” Doesn’t seem like a logical course of events…

• Is Aswathama truly invincible? We are first told that he cannot be vanquished, then they decide that they can still fool Drona into thinking that they killed his son. If this is the case, shouldn’t Drona be aware of his son’s invincibility, thus rendering him immune to their trickery? Regardless, the idea worked and Drona’s head was cut off.

• Even when Duryodhana’s entire army is falling, he refuses to pursue a peaceful conclusion.

• Bhima finally brought down Duryodhana, maybe everybody will go back to living in peace now!

 

Victory and Sorrow:

• Dhritarashtra is so furious that Bhima killed his son that he crushes an iron statue that resembles Bhima. Dhritarashtra does not appear to realize that it is only a statue but crushing it was enough to exhaust his rage, so that’s good.

• After a seemingly hopeless argument in which Yudhistira kept insisting on becoming a recluse, everybody finally convinced Yudhistira to become king.

• After advising Yudhistira on his duties as king, Bhishma finally allowed himself to die and Yudhistira went on to rule for 36 years.

Week 10: Reading Diary A

Hundred Questions:

• Uh oh, Yudhistira embarked on a chase after an extraordinary deer… If we learned anything from the Ramayana, we know that we should never chase an extraordinary deer deep into a forest! I wonder if deer are the symbol for deception or thievery in Hindu mythology because that seems to be the case in these epics.
• One at a time, the brothers arrive at a magical pond that warns them not to drink from its water until they have answered its question. Despite the pile of dead brothers that seems to be building up, each consecutive brother proceeds to drink from the pond without hearing the question.
• Despite their stupidity, Yudhistira saves the day by playing the pond’s game of riddles and all of his brothers come back to life.
• I don’t quite understand why Draupadi must be exiled for having Bhima kill Kichaka. Sure he was the queen’s brother, but he was also a rapist. It’s not like they should have any reason to fear for their own lives.

Servitude:

• Duryodhana decides that he is going to attack Virata and rob him of his wealth. He also hopes to expose that Bhima killed Kichaka and extend the Pandavas’ exile.
• Virata is captured by Susurman, but Bhima uses a bow to save him. The bow is used because it is an unusual weapon for Bhima to wield, so there is no way that they could identify that it was Bhima who saved the king.
• Come on Uttara! Cowardice is not supposed to be a characteristic of a prince, especially during a time of war. He was scared to go into the graveyard and fetch the bag that contained the Pandava’s weapons because he thought that it might be a corpse hanging from the tree.
• After what seemed like a lost cause of trying to persuade prince Uttara to drive his chariot, Arjuna finally reveals his true identity as well as the power of his weapon to rid the prince of his cowardice. And finally the prince agrees to drive the chariot.
• Why doesn’t Yudhistira swallow his pride and let the king think that Uttara saved the day?! He’s definitely not very good at concealing his true identity!

Warning Shots:

• When Yudhistira revealed his true identity (as well as that of his brothers), the king felt so bad for the way that he had treated Yudhistira that he offered his entire kingdom to Yudhistira. The king went on to offer his daughter to Arjuna, who refused but said that he would love to have the princess as a daughter-in-law.
• The Pandavas’ exile concluded with the wedding of the princess and Arjuna’s son.
• How awkward of a position for Krishna to be in. Both Arjuna and Durydhana approach Krishna to request that he choose their side in the upcoming war.

War or Peace?

• The Pandavas obviously would like to avoid war at all costs, but they must not understand how malicious their cousin is if they think that he’s going to give them anything without a war.
• How can Dhritarashtra be so blind to what a terrible person his son is?!