One day, a Brahmin running through the forest, came to seek help from the Pandavas. He had a pair of sticks that, when rubbed together, produced fire. He had hung them on a tree. A stag had rubbed itself against the tree. As a result, the sticks were caught in its antlers and it ran away. The Pandavas set off looking for the stag. Exhausted, they sat down to rest and asked Nakula to find some water. Climbing up a tree, he spotted a lake. On reaching it, he saw it was beautiful. The water looked cool and clear. So, he thought he would take a drink before returning with water for his brothers.
As he scooped up some water, a loud voice stopped him, saying, “Answer my questions; only then can you drink or take water from here! Failing to do so you may lose your life.” But Nakula was too thirsty to pay heed. He drank the water and fell down senseless immediately.
Nakula didn’t return, so Sahadeva went to look for him. He met with the same fate. One by one, all the four brothers went and never came back.
Finally, Yudhishthira went looking for them and found them all lying unconscious beside the pool. He wondered if the lake contained poisoned water. All of a sudden, a Yaksha emerged from the lake. “Do not drink the water till you answer my questions. Your brothers drank the water without answering my questions; that’s why they are senseless,” said the Yaksha. Yudhishthira agreed and said he would drink the water of the lake only if the Yaksha was satisfied with his answers.
As the Yaksha asked each question, Yudhishthira answered it thoughtfully and patiently. The Yaksha began by asking simple questions and then more difficult ones.
Yaksha: Who makes the sun rise and who makes it set?
Yudhishthira: Lord Brahma makes it rise and Dharma makes it set.
Yaksha: Who is a man’s real companion?
Yudhishthira: His wife.
Yaksha: Who is man’s true friend?
Yudhishthira: Patience.
Yaksha: How does one get something really great?
Yudhishthira: Through meditation and austerity.
Yaksha: What is the best happiness?
Yudhishthira: Contentment.
Yaksha: What is supreme knowledge?
Yudhishthira: Knowing God.
Yaksha: What is ignorance?
Yudhishthira: Not knowing one’s duty.
Yaksha: What is faster than the wind?
Yudhishthira: Thought.
Yaksha: What is higher than the heavens?
Yudhishthira: Father’s dignity.
Yaksha: What is bigger/heavier than the earth?
Yudhishthira: Mother.
Yaksha: Which does not close its eyes after sleeping?
Yudhishthira: The fish.
Yaksha: Which is a true companion forever?
Yudhishthira: Knowledge.
Yaksha: What is the greatest miracle of the earth?
Yudhishthira: Though man sees the deaths of so many creatures daily. he considers himself to be immortal. This is the earth’s greatest miracle.
The answers given by Yudhishthira to the questions of the Yaksha pleased the Yaksha who told Yudhisthira that he could bring one of his brothers back to senses. Yudhishthira asked to bring Nakula back to senses. The Yaksha wondered why he had asked for the life of his step-brother.
Yudhishthira said that he himself was Kunti’s son, so it was right that one of Madri’s sons should live. Impressed thus, the Yaksha brought all the brothers back to senses. Yudhishthira was overjoyed. He bowed to the Yaksha who transformed himself into Dharmaraj or Yama, the god of Death. He told Yudhishthira to ask for two more boons. As the first, Yudhishthira asked that the igniting sticks of the Brahmin should be found. Dharmaraj smilingly gave the sticks as he had been the stag which caused the whole incident.
As the second boon, Yudhishthira asked where they might hide during the thirteenth year of their exile. Yama asked the Pandavas to go to Viratanagar in order to spend the last year of their exile.
