Yaksha Prashna - Vana Parva

Vana Parva

At the end of the course of in-cognito exile of 12 years of van-vaas, the Pandava princes came across a Brahmin who complained that a deer has taken his Arani (The pair of wooden blocks to generate fire by friction) on its antlers and therefore he was not able to light the fire for performance Vedic rituals. The valorous Pandava princes set out to retrieve the Brahmin's Arani and followed the hoov-marks of the deer.

In the quest of the mysterious deer, Yudhisthir, became exhausted and thirsty. Therefore, Nakula, ventured to fetch water and found a beautiful lake. The lake was devoid of any living creature except a crane (Baka). When Sahadeva attempted to take water from the lake, the crane spoke, "O Nakula! The water of this lake will turn into poison if you take it without satisfactorily answering my questions." nakula, in arrogance, did not pay heed and hurriedly took water from the lake. Upon drinking the water which appeared crystal clear, Nakula died instantly of poisoning. The next Pandava, Sahadeva followed Nakula, found the same lake, saw dead Nakula, and was also warned by the crane. But Sahadeva also ridiculed the baka and died after drinking the water. In the same manner, both valiant Arjuna, and powerful Bheema, met the same fate.

Since none of the brothers returned with water, Yudhisthir embarked in search of his younger brothers and water. Upon following the same path, Yudhisthir came across the lake and found all his brothers lying dead. Before searching for the killer of his brothers, Yudhisthir decided to drink some water from the lake. But when the baka warned him, Yudhisthir harked back and listened intently and realised that the baka holds the answer to the turn of events. In virtuosity that Yudhisthir represented, he proceeded to answer the questions put forth by the crane.

Before putting the questions to Yudhisthir, the crane revealed itself as a Yaksha. The Yaksha asked 18 questions with philosophical and meta-physical ramifications. The Yaksha-Yudhisthir dialogue is embodoed in the Madhya Parva of the Mahabharat. It is also known as the Dharm-Baka Upakhyan (Legend of the Virtous Crane).