Mahabharata · Vana Parva
Yaksha Prashna
यक्ष प्रश्न — The Questions of the Forest Spirit
During their twelve-year exile in the forest, the Pandavas came to a lake guarded by a Yaksha. When the brothers tried to drink without answering the spirit's questions, they fell lifeless at the bank — one by one. Only Yudhishthira agreed to speak with the Yaksha. What followed is one of Sanskrit literature's most enduring philosophical exchanges.
The Encounter
The episode occurs late in the Vana Parva. The Pandavas, exhausted from years in the Kamyaka forest, send Nakula to find water. He discovers a beautiful lake and attempts to drink. A voice forbids him until he answers its questions. He ignores the warning and is struck dead. Sahadeva follows with the same result. Then Arjuna, then Bhima — each dead at the lake's edge.
Yudhishthira arrives to find his brothers fallen. The voice speaks again from the trees: it is a Yaksha, and the condition is the same. Yudhishthira agrees. The questions come in rapid succession — eighteen in all. Each question is a test not of scriptural knowledge but of lived dharmic wisdom.
At the end, the Yaksha offers to restore one brother. Yudhishthira's answer — choosing Nakula over his own full brothers, to preserve equity between the two mothers — reveals such perfect understanding of justice that the Yaksha restores all four. And then reveals himself: it was Yama, the god of dharma, all along.
The Eighteen Questions
As answered by Yudhishthira in the Vana Parva of the Mahabharata
What makes the sun rise every day?
Brahma (the cosmic order). The sun does not rise from desire or necessity — it rises because the fundamental order of existence requires it.
What are the companions of a man?
Learning and courage are his companions in the world; his wife is his companion at home; in death, dharma alone accompanies him.
What makes a man learned?
Not the study of the Vedas or the reading of scriptures. He is learned who knows his duty in each situation — dharma in action.
What is more valuable than gold?
Knowledge. Gold may be taken from you; knowledge stays as long as the mind endures.
What is the greatest wonder in the world?
Every day, human beings see others die, and yet each person acts as though they will live forever. This is the greatest wonder.
Who is truly happy?
He who has no debts — who owes nothing to others, who cooks his own food, and sleeps peacefully at home that night.
What is dharma?
Dharma cannot be settled by argument. The traditions of the good are the only authority. What the virtuous have agreed upon — that is dharma.
What makes a Brahmin?
Not birth, not study, not the sacred thread. It is conduct that makes a Brahmin. The man of high character who follows dharma — he is the Brahmin.
What is the path to heaven?
Truth is the path to heaven. Truth sustains the earth. Truth is the foundation of all existence.
What should a man give up to become rich?
Pride. A man who gives up pride becomes rich in the true sense — he gains respect, allies, and the goodwill of others.
What should a man give up to become loved?
Anger. He who gives up anger becomes beloved of others. Anger destroys relationships and poisons even good deeds.
What should a man give up to live happily?
Greed. Greed is the root of unhappiness — the man who gives it up finds contentment in what he has.
What should a man give up to be prosperous?
Avarice toward Brahmins. Prosperity comes to those who share.
Who is a true Brahmin — one born to the varna, or one who has knowledge?
One who has character. Birth determines varna, but conduct determines the Brahmin.
What is more important: justice or charity?
Justice. Charity without justice is hollow. The man who does justice to his obligations before offering charity — his gift is truly virtuous.
Who is an enemy that cannot be overcome?
Anger. All other enemies can be defeated from outside; anger defeats from within.
What disease is incurable?
Covetousness. It corrupts judgment, turns friend against friend, and cannot be healed by any medicine or ritual.
Of your brothers, which one should be restored to life?
Nakula — because my mother Kunti had two sons (Yudhishthira and Bhima) and my other mother Madri had none alive. For Madri's side to have no heir is unjust. This answer, choosing the son of the other mother over his own full brothers, proved Yudhishthira's impartiality — and the Yaksha restored all four.
Significance
The Yaksha Prashna is unusual in Sanskrit literature for its structure: the questions are not answered from scripture but from Yudhishthira's own understanding. When the Yaksha asks what makes a Brahmin, Yudhishthira does not cite the Vedas — he says conduct. When asked what the greatest wonder is, he does not recite a cosmological fact — he observes human behaviour.
Scholars have noted that the episode functions as a summary of the Mahabharata's entire ethical project: dharma is not a code to be memorised but a quality of attention to how one actually lives. Yudhishthira's final answer — choosing to honour his dead stepmother's lineage over his own blood brothers — is the most radical demonstration of this principle in the epic.
The Yaksha Prashna has been adapted into modern Indian education as a template for ethical reasoning. It has also been read as an early formulation of what philosophers now call virtue ethics: the good person does not follow rules — they perceive what the situation requires.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Yaksha Prashna?
The Yaksha Prashna is an episode in the Mahabharata's Vana Parva (the Forest Book) in which a lake-spirit (Yaksha) kills the four Pandava brothers — Nakula, Sahadeva, Arjuna, and Bhima — one by one as they attempt to drink from his lake without answering his questions. Only Yudhishthira agrees to answer the questions, and by answering them correctly, he demonstrates such perfect dharmic understanding that the Yaksha restores all four brothers to life.
What was the greatest wonder according to Yaksha Prashna?
According to Yudhishthira's answer in the Yaksha Prashna, the greatest wonder in the world is that every day, human beings see others die, and yet each person continues to act as though they themselves will live forever. This answer is considered one of the most profound observations in Sanskrit literature.
Who was the Yaksha in the Yaksha Prashna?
In the Mahabharata, the Yaksha who questions Yudhishthira is revealed at the end to be Yama — the god of dharma and death — in disguise. This revelation frames the entire episode as a cosmic dharma test rather than a random encounter with a malevolent spirit.
What book of the Mahabharata contains the Yaksha Prashna?
The Yaksha Prashna appears in the Vana Parva (Book of the Forest), specifically in a section sometimes called the Aranya Parva. It is one of the most anthologised and philosophically significant episodes in the entire Mahabharata.