Yudhishthira Seeks Dhoumya's Advice on Sustaining Brahmins

The brahmanas had followed him into the forest. When Yudhishthira left his kingdom, stripped of everything by the dice game, he had expected to walk into exile alone with his brothers and Draupadi. But the brahmanas — learned in the Vedas, devoted to the king who had always sustained them — chose to come with him. They could not be turned away. A king does not abandon those who depend on him. But Yudhishthira had nothing to give them. He was immersed in miseries and did not have the powers to sustain them. He could not abandon them. But nor did he have the powers to give to them. He went to his priest Dhoumya, supreme among those who uphold dharma, and in the midst of his brothers, he spoke plainly: "These brahmanas are learned in the Vedas. When I left, they followed me. I am immersed in many miseries and do not have the powers to sustain them. I cannot abandon them. But nor do I have the powers to give to them. O illustrious one! Please tell me. What is the right course of action for me?" Dhoumya thought for a moment about what was the right course of action in accordance with dharma. Then he spoke. He told Yudhishthira about the beginning of things. In ancient times, when beings were created, they suffered from great hunger. Savita — the sun — felt compassion for them, like their own father. While proceeding on his northern course, he used his energy to suck up the juices from the earth. Then, returning on his southern course, he placed them back in the earth. When the sun became lord of the fields, the lord of the herbs collected the sun's energy and created the clouds. Sprinkled with the moon's energy, it was the sun himself who was created as the herbs with six flavours. It was this that provided food to all beings on earth. Thus, Dhoumya said, it is the sun that provides food for sustaining the lives of all beings. He is the father of all beings. Therefore, seek refuge with him. He gave examples: Bhima, Kartavirya, Vainya and Nahusha — all great-souled kings, pure in birth and in deeds — had saved their subjects through austerities, yoga and meditation. "O one with dharma in your heart! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! You have been purified through your deeds. Like that, basing yourself in dharma, you must sustain the brahmanas by resorting to austerities." Yudhishthira heard these words, appropriate for the time. The pure-souled Dharmaraja undertook supreme austerities. He touched the waters of the Ganga and the wind. He resorted to yoga and pranayama (breath control), controlled his senses, and lived on air alone. He worshipped Divakara — the maker of the day — with offerings of flowers and fireless oblations.