Shloka 59
युधिष्ठिरने कहा--जो देवता, अतिथि, भरणीय कुटुम्बीजन, पितर और आत्मा--इन पाँचोंका पोषण नहीं करता, वह श्वास लेनेपर भी जीवित नहीं है ।। यक्ष उवाच किंस्विद् गुरुतरं भूमे: किंस्विदुच्चतरं च खात् । किंस्विच्छीघ्रतरं वायो: किंस्विद् बहुतरं तृणात्,यक्षने पूछा--पृथ्वीसे भी भारी क्या है? आकाशसे भी ऊँचा क्या है? वायुसे भी तेज चलनेवाला क्या है? और तिनकोंसे भी अधिक (असंख्य) क्या है?
yakṣa uvāca | kiṃ svid gurutaraṃ bhūmeḥ? kiṃ svid uccataraṃ ca khāt? kiṃ svid śīghrataraṃ vāyoḥ? kiṃ svid bahutaraṃ tṛṇāt? ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “He who does not sustain the gods, the guest, the kin who must be supported, the ancestors, and his own self—these five—though he breathes, is not truly alive.” The Yakṣa asked: “What is heavier than the earth? What is higher than the sky? What is swifter than the wind? And what is more numerous than blades of grass?”
यक्ष उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharma-test through paradoxical comparisons: true ‘weight,’ ‘height,’ ‘speed,’ and ‘number’ are not only physical measures but can point to moral and existential realities (such as responsibility, aspiration, the mind’s movement, and the countless impulses or desires). The Yaksha’s method is to draw Yudhiṣṭhira from literal thinking toward ethical insight.
During the Yaksha-prashna episode in the forest, the Yaksha questions Yudhiṣṭhira with riddles at the lake. These questions are part of a larger interrogation that determines whether Yudhiṣṭhira possesses the discernment and steadiness required to uphold dharma under pressure.