Yaksha Prashna - A Hindu text|書籍線上App不用買-HotApp4Game

Yaksha Prashna is a set of questions and answers, some of the them are plain riddles while others answer life’s deepest questions. The story that gives birth to Yaksa Prasna( Dharma Baka Upakhyan: Story of the Dharma Crane) takes place in the Hindu epic of Mahabharata in the Vana Parva/Aranya Parva chapters.

The heirs to the Hastinapura throne, the Pandava brothers, are exiled to the forest. As they are living a disciplined life of courage in the forest, they are approached one day by a priest, who tells them that

his tinder blocks became entangled in a deer’s horns and that the deer ran away. He asks for their help, as he cannot light the fire necessary to perform rituals without the block. The Pandava brothers follow the hoof marks of the deer and stop to rest as they are tired and thirsty. Sahadeva, the youngest brother,

volunteers to bring water. He goes to a nearby lake. The lake is devoid of any living creatures except a crane. When Sahadeva attempts to drink water from the lake, the crane says to him, “Oh Sahadeva, the

water of this lake will be poisonous, until my questions are answered.” Sahadeva ignores the crane’s warning, drinks the water and falls dead. This sequence of event repeats for the next three brothers, who go searching for their brother and try to drink the water. Finally Yudhistra, the eldest, heeds to the crane’s warning and

agrees to answer the crane’s question. The set of question and answers that follow forms the content of Yaksha Prasanna. When he answers all the question, the crane reveals himself as an Yaksha(a

spirit), and he tells Yudhistra that he can choose one of his brothers to be returned to life. Yudishtra chooses Nakula, the Yaksha is surprised and asks why he did not choose one of the other brothers like Arjuna or Bheema, who are better warriors. Yudhistra replies that Nakula is his step brother, and he wants his step mother to also have a son who is alive, like his mother. The Yaksha is pleased on hearing this and returns all his brothers to life.