Yaksha Prashna
Yakṣapraśna
Mahabharata, Aranyaka (Vana) Parva, adhyayas 313–314
The Yaksha and Yudhishthira
2 chapters · 187 verses
Near the end of the forest exile, the Pandavas search for water and four brothers fall dead at an enchanted lake for ignoring its guardian. Yudhishthira arrives, answers the Yaksha's riddles on dharma, the world and the self, and by choosing Nakula's life over his own full brothers' wins back all four.
Chapters
1The Brothers Fall at the LakeAranyaka (Vana) Parva 31351 v2The Yaksha's QuestionsAranyaka (Vana) Parva 314136 v
About the text
The Yaksha Prashna ("the Yaksha's questions") is told in the Aranyaka (Vana) Parva, adhyayas 313–314 in the traditional numbering (3.296–297 in the critical edition). The Yaksha is revealed as Dharma, Yudhishthira's father, testing his son; the dialogue is one of the best-loved passages of the epic.