The Questions of Yaksha to Yudhisthira. Yaksha: Who is breathing yet not alive? Yudhisthira: The person who does not offer anything to gods, guests, servants, ancestors. Yaksha: What is the best bath? Yudhisthira: That which cleanses the mind of all impurities. Yaksha: What is ignorance? Yudhisthira: Not knowing one’s constitutional duty. Yaksha : Who is the friend of a traveler? Who is the friend of one who is ill and one who is dying? Yudhishthira: The friend of a traveler is his companion. The physician is the friend of one who is sick and a dying mans friend is charity. Yaksha: Since dharma (virtue), artha (profit) and kama (desire) are opposed to each other, how can they co-exist harmoniously? Yudhisthira: These three become congenial to one another when one has a virtuous wife. Yaksha: What is heavier than earth, higher than heavens, faster than wind and more numerous than grass? Yudhisthira : Mother is heavier than the earth; father is higher than the heaven; the mind is faster than the wind; and our worries are more numerous than grass. Yaksha: What is real charity? Yudhisthira: Real charity is protecting one from the onslaughts of material nature. Yaksha:What is the greatest wonder of the world? Yudhisthira: The greatest wonder is that even though everyday one sees countless living entities dying, he still acts and thinks as if he will live forever. Yaksha: What enemy is invincible? What constitutes an incurable disease? What sort of man is noble and what sort is ignoble? Yudhishthira: Anger is the invincible enemy. Covetousness constitutes a disease that is incurable. He is noble who desires the well-being of all creatures, and he is ignoble who is without mercy. Yaksha: What is the real path to follow in this life? Yudhisthira: The best path is to follow in the footsteps of the pure devotees, for their hearts are the sitting places of the real truths regarding religion. Yaksha: What is news? (that is What is real situation in the material world?) Yudhisthira: The material world is like a frying pan. The Sun is the fire, the day and nights are the fuel. The passing seasons are the stirring ladle and time is cook. All living entities are being thus fried in this pan. This is the real news of what is happening in the material world which is a miserable place full of ignorance. Yaksha: What makes one a brahmana, birth, learning or behavior? Yudhisthira: It is behavior (actions) alone that makes a person a brahmana. Even if one who is expert in the four Vedas, born of brahmana parents, but whose behavior is not proper should be considered a shudra. ( Mahabharata, Vana Parva, 311–12).
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 11:32:22 +0000
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