As their twelve-year exile neared its end, the Pandavas chased a magical deer that had taken a sage’s fire-kindling mortar. The chase led them deep into the forest, where each brother, driven by thirst, discovered a pool guarded by a Yaksha. Ignoring the Yaksha's warnings to answer his questions before drinking, Nakula, Sahadeva, Arjuna, and Bhima drank the water and fell unconscious.
Yudhishthira, finding his brothers seemingly dead, listened to the Yaksha and answered his questions wisely. Impressed by Yudhishthira's wisdom and fairness, the Yaksha, revealed to be Yama, the god of death and Yudhishthira's father, revived all the brothers and blessed them, ensuring their successful completion of the exile.
Sources and suggested further reading:
1. Ganguli, Kisari Mohan, translator. The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa. 12 vols. P. C. Roy, 1883-1896.
2. Pattanaik, Devdutt. Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata. Penguin Books, 2010.
3. Narayan, R. K. The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic. University of Chicago Press, 1978.
4. Menon, Ramesh. The Mahabharata: A Modern Rendering. Rupa Publications, 2006.
5. Buck, William. Mahabharata. University of California Press, 1973.
6. Hiltebeitel, Alf. The Ritual of Battle: Krishna in the Mahabharata. State University of New York Press, 1990.
7. van Buitenen, J. A. B., translator. The Mahabharata, Volume 2: The Book of the Assembly Hall; The Book of the Forest. University of Chicago Press, 1975.
8. Witzel, Michael. The Origins of the World's Mythologies. Oxford University Press, 2012.
9. Johnson, W. J. The Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation. Oxford University Press, 1994.
Credits:
Editors: Kartik Katkar and Malay Jain ( ...)
Illustrations: Jayesh Bareja ( ...)
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30 сен 2024
