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."
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 cloud-complexioned, 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.
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 cloud-complexioned, 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.
Reference: Mahabharata, Book 3, Vana Parva, Chapter 311.
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