Yaksha Prashna: the Yaksha's questions

1. 1A Yaksha (a nature spirit) tests Yudhishthira with riddles. Asked what makes the Sun rise and set, Yudhishthira says Brahma (the creator god) makes it rise, the gods go with it, Dharma (the law of right order) makes it set, and the Sun rests on truth.
2. 2Yudhishthira answers that a person becomes learned by studying the holy scriptures, achieves great things through hard self-discipline, gains a true companion through intelligence, and becomes wise by serving older people.
3. 8Yudhishthira says a mother is weightier than the earth and a father higher than the sky. The mind is faster than the wind, and our thoughts are more numerous than blades of grass.
4. 9The Yaksha asks simple riddles. Yudhishthira answers: a fish sleeps with its eyes open, an egg does not move after it is born, a stone has no heart, and a river grows by its own force.
5. 10Yudhishthira says a traveler far from home has his companion as a friend, a family man has his wife, a sick person has the doctor, and a dying person has the good they did by giving to others.
6. 12Yudhishthira answers more riddles: the sun travels alone, the moon is born again each month, fire is the cure for cold, and the Earth is the biggest field.
7. 13Yudhishthira says goodness rests most on generosity, fame comes from giving, heaven is reached through truth, and happiness rests on good behavior.
8. 15Yudhishthira says skill is the most praiseworthy thing, knowledge is the most valuable possession, health is the best gain, and contentment is the best kind of happiness.
9. 16Yudhishthira says the highest duty is not to harm anyone, rituals taught in the Vedas always bring results, a controlled mind never leads to regret, and friendship with good people never breaks.
10. 17Yudhishthira says giving up pride makes people like you, giving up anger leaves you with no regrets, giving up desire makes you rich, and giving up greed makes you happy.
11. 19Yudhishthira says the world is covered by darkness (ignorance), and darkness keeps things from being seen. Greed makes people abandon their friends, and being too attached to worldly things keeps people from reaching heaven.
12. 22Yudhishthira says true self-discipline is staying faithful to your own religious duty, the real restraint is control of the mind, forgiveness means putting up with others' hostility, and shame means staying away from wrong actions.
13. 23The Yaksha, a nature spirit testing King Yudhishthira, asks about knowledge, peace, mercy and simplicity. Yudhishthira says real knowledge is knowing God, real peace is a calm heart, mercy is wanting everyone to be happy, and simplicity is keeping an even, steady heart.
14. 24Yudhishthira says anger is an enemy no one can fully defeat, and greed is a sickness with no cure. An honest person wants good for every living being, and a dishonest person has no mercy.
15. 25Yudhishthira says real ignorance is not knowing your duties, and laziness is not doing them. Pride is the feeling that you yourself are the one doing everything or suffering everything in life. Grief comes from ignorance.
16. 26Yudhishthira says steadiness means sticking to your faith and duty, and patience means controlling your senses and cravings. A true bath is washing your mind clean of bad thoughts, and real charity is protecting all living beings.
17. 27Yudhishthira says a learned person is one who knows their duties, and someone without faith is truly ignorant. Desire comes from things we want to own, and envy is simply sorrow in the heart.
18. 28Yudhishthira says pride is a kind of dull ignorance, and hypocrisy is showing off your religion to others. The blessing of the gods comes back to us from what we give, and wickedness is speaking badly about other people.
19. 31Asked what makes someone a true Brahmana (a priest or spiritual person), Yudhishthira says it is not birth, study or learning but good behavior. Even someone who has studied all four Vedas, the holy scriptures, is no better than a wretch if he acts badly; only one who does his religious duties, like the Agnihotra fire ritual, and controls his senses is truly a Brahmana.
20. 32Yudhishthira says people who speak kindly are liked by everyone, and people who act with good judgment get what they seek. Those with many friends live happily, and those devoted to goodness reach a happy state after death.
21. 33The Yaksha asks four final questions to bring back Yudhishthira's dead brothers. Yudhishthira says the happy person eats simple food at home and owes no debt; the greatest wonder is that people see others die every day yet act as if they will live forever; since arguments and scriptures disagree, the path is to follow the way great people walked; and the news is that Time is cooking all creatures, using the sun as fire and days and nights as fuel.
22. 34The Yaksha asks who is truly a person and who has every kind of wealth. Yudhishthira says a person lives on as long as the story of his good deeds spreads, and the one who treats pleasant and unpleasant, joy and sorrow, past and future all the same has every kind of wealth.
23. 35Pleased, the Yaksha lets Yudhishthira bring back only one of his dead brothers. Yudhishthira chooses Nakula, his tall, dark, strong younger brother.
24. 36The Yaksha asks why he picks Nakula, a step-brother, over the mighty Bhima or Arjuna. Yudhishthira says he will never give up goodness, that not harming others is the highest virtue, and that he wants both of his father's wives, Kunti and Madri, to have a living son, because he treats both mothers equally.
25. 37Because Yudhishthira valued not harming others above gain and pleasure, the Yaksha brings all his brothers back to life.