Reading Notes: PDE-Mahabharata, Part C

Riddles at the Lake

• A brahmin asked the Pandava brothers to catch and kill this animal to get the sacred twigs from it.
• The brothers got tired and went to this lake because they were thirsty.
• Yudhishthira sent Nakula to the lake first. As he approached it, he heard a voice saying to if he answers a question he can drink the water, but chose to ignore it and continued to drink the water. He died after that.
• Next, Sahadeva went up to lake wandering about his brother and then also heard the voice. He ignored it and drank the water, which lead to his death.
• Arjuna went after and heard the voice. He used his arrows and started shooting them. Then he drank water and died.
• Bhima went to lake too and drank the water, which he died too.
• Finally, Yudhishthira went to the lake and asked the voice who it was. Voice said it was a yaksha. Yudhishthira agreed to answer his riddles.
• The voice asked many different types of riddles in which Yudhishthira answered with patients and carefully.
• He was granted to drink the water and voice revealed itself. The voice was actually Dharma, the god of wisdom and justice. 
• He gave Yudhishthira two wishes basically.  Yudhishthira wished for his brothers' lives back and that they are not recognized.
• I could change the setting of this story say instead of trying to drink water they were trying to cross a bridge. 
• I could add a character that saves the five brothers instead of one of the brothers.

Yudhishthira sitting on the throne with Draupadi and brothers
(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Bibliography: PDE Mahabharata- Riddles at the Lake