Mahabharata -Chakravarti Rajagopalachari
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42.Yaksha's questions
Presently he came upon a beautiful green meadow, girdling a pool of pellucid water, nectar to his eyes. But when he saw his brothers lying there like sacred flagpoles thrown pell-mell after a festival, unable to restrain his grief, he lifted his voice and wept. He stroked the faces of Bhima and Arjuna as they lay so still and silent there and mourned: "Was this to be the end of all our vows? Just when our exile is about to end, you have been snatched away. Even the gods have forsaken me in my misfortune!" As he looked at their mighty limbs, now so helpless, he sadly wondered who could have been powerful enough to kill them. Brokenly, he reflected: "Surely my heart must be made of steel not to break even after seeing Nakula and Sahadeva dead. For what purpose should I continue to live in this world?" Then a sense of mystery overcame him, for this could be no ordinary occurrence. The world held no warriors who could overcome his brothers. Besides, there were no wounds on their bodies which could have let out life and their faces were faces of men who slept in peace and not of those who died in wrath. There was also no trace of the footprints of an enemy. There was surely some magic about it. Or, could it be a trick played by Duryodhana? Might he not have poisoned the water? Then Yudhishthira also descended into the pool, in his turn drawn to the water by a consuming thirst. At once the voice without form warned as before: "Your brothers died because they did not heed my words. Do not follow them. Answer my questions first and then quench your thirst. This pool is mine." Yudhishthira knew that these could be none other than the words of a Yaksha and guessed what had happened to his brothers. He saw a possible way of redeeming the situation. He said to the bodiless voice: "Please ask your questions." The voice put questions rapidly one after another. The Yaksha asked: "What makes sun shine every day?" Yudhishthira replied: "The power of Brahman." The Yaksha asked: "What rescues man in danger?" Yudhishthira replied: "Courage is man's salvation in danger." The Yaksha asked: "By the study of which science does man become wise?" Yudhishthira replied: "Not by studying any sastra does man become wise. It is by association with the great in wisdom that he gets wisdom." The Yaksha asked: "What is more nobly sustaining than the earth?" Yudhishthira replied: "The mother who brings up the children she has borne is nobler and more sustaining than the earth." |
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