Dharma Reveals Himself to Yudhishthira

The brahmana's kindling had been stolen by a deer. Yudhishthira sent his brothers after it, one by one. None returned. He followed their tracks to a lake — clear, still, surrounded by silence. And there they lay: Nakula, Sahadeva, Arjuna, Bhima — each one fallen as if struck dead. Beside the lake stood a crane, and from the crane came a voice: I am a yaksha. Your brothers refused to answer my questions before drinking. They died. If you wish to drink, you must answer first. Yudhishthira looked at his brothers. He looked at the water. He agreed. The yaksha asked him questions — dozens of them — about the nature of the sun and the moon, about what makes a Brahmin, about what is heavier than earth and higher than heaven. Yudhishthira answered each one without hesitation. The yaksha was satisfied. He told Yudhishthira he could choose one brother to revive. Yudhishthira chose Nakula. The yaksha asked him why — when Bhima and Arjuna were the warriors he needed, when both were alive and Nakula was only his stepmother's son. Yudhishthira answered: I am alive. That is enough. Let one of Madri's sons live, so that neither of my mothers is left childless. The yaksha revived all four brothers. Now Yudhishthira stood before the crane and saw that it had changed. The bird was gone. In its place stood a being — radiant, immense — balanced on one leg. Yudhishthira asked: Who are you? You are no yaksha. Are you one of the Vasus? One of the Rudras? The wielder of the vajra himself? I see no means by which all my brothers could have been killed. Yet here they are, restored. Are you our well-wisher? Or are you our father? The being answered: I am your father Dharma. I came here with a desire to see you. Fame, truth, self-control, purity, uprightness, humility, steadfastness, charity, austerities, and brahmacharya (celibacy) — these are my body. Non-violence, impartiality, peacefulness, purity, and lack of envy are the gates that lead to me. You have always been dear to me. I came to test you, and I am satisfied with your non-violence. Ask for a boon. Yudhishthira asked: May the brahmana's kindling be restored. May his fires not be destroyed. Dharma said: I stole the kindling in the form of a deer, to test you. It will be returned. Then he told Yudhishthira to ask for another boon. Yudhishthira asked: The twelve years of dwelling in the forest are over. The thirteenth year has arrived. Wherever we may live, may people not be able to recognize us. Dharma granted it: Even if you travel the earth in your own forms, no one in the three worlds will recognize you. Through my favours, you will spend the thirteenth year hidden and undetected in the city of Virata. Whatever form each of you desires to assume in your mind, that will be your disguise. Then he told Yudhishthira to ask for a third boon. Yudhishthira said: It is enough that I have set my eyes on you. But if you insist — may I always be able to conquer avarice, delusion, and anger. May my mind always be inclined towards generosity, austerity, and truth. Dharma said: You are naturally endowed with all these qualities. You are dharma yourself. But you will obtain what you ask for. Then the one who sustains the worlds disappeared. The Pandavas were reunited. They returned to the hermitage and gave the kindling back to the brahmana. The fires were lit again. The episode was over — but the test had left its mark. Yudhishthira had been asked what the greatest wonder in the world was, and he had answered: Every day, countless beings die, and yet the living believe they will live forever. That was the answer Dharma had been waiting for — not the cleverest one, but the truest one.