42. THE ENCHANTED POOL :

THE stipulated period of twelve years was
drawing to a close.


One day, a deer was rubbing itself against
a poor brahmana's fire-kindling mortar
and as it turned to go, the mortar got
entangled in its horns and the affrighted
animal fled wildly with it into the forest.
In those days matches were unknown and
fire was kindled with pieces of wood by
mechanical friction.



"Alas! The deer is running away with my
fire-kindler. How can I perform the fire
sacrifice?" shouted the brahmana and
rushed towards the Pandavas for help in
his extremity.



The Pandavas pursued the animal but it
was a magic deer, which sped in great
leaps and bounds, decoying the Pandavas
far into the forest and then disappeared.
Worn out by the futile chase, the
Pandavas sat in great dejection under a
banyan tree.



Nakula sighed: "We cannot render even
this trifling service to the brahmana. How
we have degenerated!" said he sadly.
Bhima said: "Quite so. When Draupadi
was dragged into the assembly, we should
have killed those wretches. Is it not
because we did not do so that we have had
to suffer all these sorrows?" and he looked
at Arjuna sadly.



Arjuna agreed. "I bore in silence the
vulgar and insulting brag of that son of the
charioteer, doing nothing. So we have
deservedly fallen into this pitiable state."
Yudhishthira noticed with sorrow that all
of them had lost their cheerfulness and
courage. He thought they would be more
cheerful with something to do. He was
tormented with thirst and so he said to
Nakula: "Brother, climb that tree and see
whether there is any pool or river nearby."



Nakula climbed the tree, looked around
and said: "At a little distance I see water
plants and cranes. There must certainly be
water there."



Yudhishthira  sent him to fetch some to
drink.



Nakula was glad when he got to the place
and saw there was a pool. He was very
thirsty himself and so thought of
quenching his thirst first before taking
water in his quiver for his brother. But no
sooner did he dip his hand in the
transparent water than he heard a voice,
which said:
"Do not be rash. This pool belongs to me.
O son of Madri, answer my questions and
then drink the water."



Nakula was surprised, but carried away by
his intense thirst and heedless of the
warning, he drank the water. At once,
overcome by irresistible drowsiness, he
fell down, to all appearance dead.



Surprised that Nakula had not returned,
Yudhishthira sent Sahadeva to see what
the matter was. When Sahadeva reached
the pool and saw his brother lying on the
ground, he wondered whether any harm
had come to him. But before looking into
the matter further, rushed irresistibly to
the water to quench his burning thirst.
The voice was heard again: "O Sahadeva,
this is my pool. Answer my questions and
then only may you quench your thirst."
Like Nakula, Sahadeva also did not heed
the warning. He drank the water and at
once dropped down.



Puzzled and worried that Sahadeva also
did not return, Yudhishthira sent Arjuna to
see whether the brothers had met with any
danger. "And bring water," he added, for
he was very thirsty.



Arjuna went swiftly. He saw both his
brothers lying dead near the pool. He was
shocked at the sight and felt that they
must have been killed by some lurking
foe.



Though heart-broken with grief and
burning with the desire for revenge, he
felt all feelings submerged in a monstrous
thirst, which irresistibly impelled him to
the fatal pool. Again, a voice was heard:
"Answer my question before you drink the
water. This pool is mine. If you disobey
me, you will follow your brothers."



Arjuna's anger knew no bounds. He cried:
"Who are you? Come and stand up to me,
and I will kill you," and he shot keenedged
arrows in the direction of the voice.
The invisible being laughed in scorn:



"Your arrows do but wound the air.
Answer my questions and then you can
satisfy your thirst. If you drink the water
without doing so, you will die."
Greatly vexed, Arjuna made up his mind
to seek out and grapple with this elusive
foe. But first he had to quench his terrible
thirst. Yes, thirst was the enemy he must
kill first. So he drank the water and also
fell down dead.



After anxious waiting Yudhishthira turned
to Bhima: "Dear brother, Arjuna, the great
hero, has also not yet returned. Something
terrible must have happened to our
brothers, for our stars are bad. Please seek
them out and be quick about it. Also bring
water, for I die of thirst." Bhima, racked
with anxiety, hurried away without a
word.



His grief and rage can be imagined when
he saw his three brothers lying there dead.
He thought: "This is certainly the work of
the Yakshas. I will hunt them down and
kill them. But O! I am so thirsty, I shall
first drink water the better to fight them."
And then he descended into the pool.
The voice shouted: "Bhimasena, beware.



You may drink only after answering my
questions. You will die if you disregard
my words."



"Who are you to dictate to me?" cried
Bhima, and he drank the water avidly,
glaring around in defiance. And as he did
so, his great strength seemed to slip from
him like a garment. And he also fell dead
among his brothers.



Alone, Yudhishthira wailed full of anxiety
and thirst. "Have they been subjected to a
curse or are they wandering about in the
forest in a vain search for water or have
they fainted or died of thirst?"
Unable to bear these thoughts and driven
desperate by an overpowering thirst, he
started out to look for his brothers and the
pool.



Yudhishthira proceeded in the direction
his brothers had taken through tracts
infested with wild boar and abounding in
spotted dear and huge forest birds.
Presently he came upon a beautiful green
meadow, girdling a pool of pellucid water,
nectar to his eyes.



But when he saw his brothers lying there
like sacred flagpoles thrown pell-mell
after a festival, unable to restrain his grief,
he lifted his voice and wept. He stroked
the faces of Bhima and Arjuna as they lay
so still and silent there and mourned:
"Was this to be the end of all our vows?
Just when our exile is about to end, you
have been snatched away. Even the gods
have forsaken me in my misfortune!"



As he looked at their mighty limbs, now
so helpless, he sadly wondered who could
have been powerful enough to kill them.
Brokenly, he reflected: "Surely my heart
must be made of steel not to break even
after seeing Nakula and Sahadeva dead.
For what purpose should I continue to live
in this world?"
Then a sense of mystery overcame him,
for this could be no ordinary occurrence.



The world held no warriors who could
overcome his brothers. Besides, there
were no wounds on their bodies which
could have let out life and their faces were
faces of men who slept in peace and not of
those who died in wrath.



There was also no trace of the footprints
of an enemy. There was surely some
magic about it. Or, could it be a trick
played by Duryodhana? Might he not
have poisoned the water? Then
Yudhishthira also descended into the pool,
in his turn drawn to the water by a
consuming thirst.



At once the voice without form warned as
before: "Your brothers died because they
did not heed my words. Do not follow
them. Answer my questions first and then
quench your thirst. This pool is mine."
Yudhishthira knew that these could be
none other than the words of a Yaksha
and guessed what had happened to his
brothers. He saw a possible way of
redeeming the situation.
He said to the bodiless voice: "Please ask
your questions." The voice put questions
rapidly one after another.
The Yaksha asked: "What makes sun
shine every day?"
Yudhishthira replied: "The power of
Brahman."



The Yaksha asked: "What rescues man in
danger?"
Yudhishthira replied: "Courage is man's
salvation in danger."
The Yaksha asked: "By the study of which
science does man become wise?"
Yudhishthira replied: "Not by studying
any sastra does man become wise. It is by
association with the great in wisdom that
he gets wisdom."
The Yaksha asked: "What is more nobly
sustaining than the earth?"
Yudhishthira replied: "The mother who
brings up the children she has borne is
nobler and more sustaining than the
earth."
The Yaksha asked: "What is higher than
the sky?"
Yudhishthira replied: "The father."
The Yaksha asked: "What is fleeter than
wind?"
Yudhishthira replied: "Mind."
The Yaksha asked: "What is more
blighted than withered straw?"
Yudhishthira replied: "A sorrow-stricken
heart."


The Yaksha asked: "What befriends a
traveller?"
Yudhishthira replied: "Learning."
The Yaksha asked: "Who is the friend of
one who stays at home?"
Yudhishthira replied: "The wife."
The Yaksha asked: "Who accompanies a
man in death?"
Yudhishthira replied: "Dharma. That
alone accompanies the soul in its solitary
journey after death."
The Yaksha asked: "Which is the biggest
vessel?"
Yudhishthira replied: "The earth, which
contains all within itself is the greatest
vessel."
The Yaksha asked: "What is happiness?"
Yudhishthira replied: "Happiness is the
result of good conduct."



The Yaksha asked: "What is that,
abandoning which man becomes loved by
all?"
Yudhishthira replied: "Pride, for
abandoning that man will be loved by all."
The Yaksha asked: "What is the loss
which yields joy and not sorrow?"



Yudhishthira replied: "Anger, giving it up,
we will no longer subject to sorrow."
The Yaksha asked: "What is that, by
giving up which, man becomes rich?"
Yudhishthira replied: "Desire, getting rid
of it, man becomes wealthy."
The Yaksha asked: "What makes one a
real brahmana? Is it birth, good conduct or
learning? Answer decisively."



Yudhishthira replied: "Birth and learning
do not make one a brahmana. Good
conduct alone does. However learned a
person may be he will not be a brahmana
if he is a slave to bad habits. Even though
he may be learned in the four Vedas, a
man of bad conduct falls to a lower class."
The Yaksha asked: "What is the greatest
wonder in the world?"



Yudhishthira replied: "Every day, men see
creatures depart to Yama's abode and yet,
those who remain seek to live forever.
This verily is the greatest wonder."



Thus, the Yaksha posed many questions
and Yudhishthira answered them all.
In the end the Yaksha asked: "O king, one
of your dead brothers can now be revived.
Whom do you want revived? He shall
come back to life."



Yudhishthira thought for a moment and
then replied: "May the cloudcomplexioned,
lotus-eyed, broad-chested
and long-armed Nakula, lying like a fallen
ebony tree, arise."



The Yaksha was pleased at this and asked
Yudhishthira: "Why did you choose
Nakula in preference to Bhima who has
the strength of sixteen thousand
elephants? I have heard that Bhima is
most dear to you. And why not Arjuna,
whose prowess in arms is your protection?
Tell me why you chose Nakula rather than
either of these two."



Yudhishthira replied: "O Yaksha, dharma
is the only shield of man and not Bhima or
Arjuna. If dharma is set at naught, man
will be ruined. Kunti and Madri were the
two wives of my father. I am surviving, a
son of Kunti, and so, she is not completely
bereaved. In order that the scales of
justice may be even, I ask that Madri's son
Nakula may revive." The Yaksha was
pleased with Yudhishthira's impartiality
and granted that all his brothers would
come back to life.



It was Yama, the Lord of Death, who had
taken the form of the deer and the Yaksha
so that he might see his son Yudhishthira
and test him. He embraced Yudhishthira
and blessed him.



Yama said: "Only a few days remain to
complete the stipulated period of your
exile in the forest. The thirteenth year will
also pass by. None of your enemies will
be able to discover you. You will
successfully fulfil your undertaking," and
saying this he disappeared.



The Pandavas had, no doubt, to pass
through all sorts of troubles during their
exile, but the gains too were not
inconsiderable. It was a period of hard
discipline and searching probation
through which they emerged stronger and
nobler men.



Arjuna returned from tapas with divine
weapons and strengthened by contact with
Indra. Bhima also met his elder brother
Hanuman near the lake where the
Saugandhika flowers bloomed and got
tenfold strength from his embrace. Having
met, at the enchanted pool, his father
Yama, the Lord of Dharma, Yudhishthira
shone with tenfold lustre.



"The minds of those who listen to the
sacred story of Yudhishthira's meeting
with his father, will never go after evil.
They will never seek to create quarrels
among friends or covet the wealth of
others. They will never fall victims to lust.



They will never be unduly attached to
transitory things." Thus said
Vaisampayana to Janamejaya as he related
this story of the Yaksha. May the same
good attend the readers of this story as
retold by us.