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