The Yaksha Prashna Continues

Yudhishthir Answers Questions on Relationships and Good Conduct

Aug 16, 2008

The next sets of questions are simple and focus on the relationships forged in life and on what constitutes good conduct.

Above all a ruler needs to be wise because he has to carry his kingdom with him. The Yaksha Prashna demonstrates the maturity of Yudhishthir. The next sets of questions present o medley of topics that are difficult to classify.

Set One

The first and third questions appear for the first time in the Yaksha Prashna. Yudhishthir’s answer to the third was that clouds are a man’s chief support stressing the importance of timely rain in an agrarian society. The answer to the first question was the son. This is symbolic. Just as the soul keeps taking new bodies and forms an unknowable link through generations, the son perpetuates the lineage and forms a knowable link through generations. The second and fourth questions are repetitions of earlier concepts. Yudhishthir answered that the wife is the friend bestowed on man by the gods and that charity is his chief refuge.

Set Two

Yudhishthir replied that the best of all laudable things is skill and that the best of all possessions is knowledge. His reply to Yaksha’s third question was that the best of all gains is health. If one is healthy then one can regain lost wealth and fame but if one is not healthy then wealth and fame are of no value. Another reason why good health is stressed in Hinduism is that it is believed that the soul that resides in each of us is an aspect of divinity. Therefore our body is a temple and we are responsible for its well being. Achieving happiness is a multifaceted task. One aspect was discussed earlier when Yudhishthir said that good behavior towards others begets happiness. Here Yudhishthir emphasizes another component, which is contentment.

Set Three

Yudhishthir’s reply to the first question was that the highest of duties is to refrain from hurting others. This again stresses the need of brotherhood, coexistence and cooperation. His reply to the second question was that the rites ordained in the Vedas always bear fruit. It is implicit in the answer that the Vedic rituals complement good conduct and are not a substitute for good conduct. To Yaksha’s third question Yudhishthir replied that the mind, if controlled, leads to no regret. This is a warning against acting impulsively. Yudhishthir was guilty of doing just that when he wagered his brothers and his wife Draupadi in the game of dice and was suffering the consequences of not controlling his mind. Yudhishthir’s reply to the fourth question was that an alliance with the good can never break. The good follow a reconciliatory mechanism to solve all problems whereas the evil follow a confrontationist approach. This perhaps was an indicator of things to come.

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