Shloka 99
यक्ष उवाच को5हड्कार इति प्रोक्त: कश्न दम्भ: प्रकीर्तित: । कि तद् दैवं परं प्रोक्त कि तत् पैशुन्यमुच्यते,यक्षने पूछा--अहंकार किसे कहते हैं? दम्भ क्या कहलाता है? जिसे परम दैव कहते हैं, वह क्या है? और पैशुन्य किसका नाम है?
yakṣa uvāca: ko'haṅkāra iti proktaḥ? kaś ca dambhaḥ prakīrtitaḥ? ki tad daivaṃ paraṃ proktaṃ? ki tat paiśunyam ucyate?
The Yaksha said: “What is called egoism (ahamkāra)? And what is spoken of as hypocrisy—ostentatious pride (dambha)? What is declared to be the supreme ‘divine’ principle (daiva)? And what is termed slander—malicious backbiting (paiśunya)?”
यक्ष उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a moral inquiry into inner faults and ethical conduct: it asks for clear definitions of egoism (ahaṅkāra), hypocrisy/ostentation (dambha), the highest sense of the divine (param daivam), and harmful speech (paiśunya). The teaching emphasis is discernment—knowing these concepts precisely so one can restrain ego, avoid pretence, honor the truly divine, and refrain from slander.
In the Yaksha–Prashna episode of the Vana Parva, the Yaksha interrogates Yudhiṣṭhira with a series of dharma questions. This verse is one set of those questions, testing his understanding of character, virtue, and the ethics of speech and conduct.