Shloka 86
युधिछिर उवाच सन््तो दिग् जलमाकाशं गौरन्न प्रार्थना विषम् | श्राद्धस्य ब्राह्मण: काल: कथं वा यक्ष मन्यसे,युधिष्ठिर बोले--सत्पुरुष दिशा हैं, आकाश जल है, पृथ्वी अन्न है, प्रार्थना (कामना) विष है और ब्राह्मण ही श्राद्धका समय है अथवा यक्ष! इस विषयमें तुम्हारी क्या मान्यता है?
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca—santo diśo jalam ākāśaṁ gaur annaṁ prārthanā viṣam | śrāddhasya brāhmaṇaḥ kālaḥ kathaṁ vā yakṣa manyase ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “The virtuous are the true ‘directions’; the sky is water; the earth is food; craving (self-seeking petition) is poison; and for the śrāddha rite, the Brāhmaṇa is the very ‘time’ (the decisive occasion). O Yakṣa, what is your understanding of this?”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
True orientation in life comes from the company and example of the virtuous; craving is spiritually toxic; and sacred duties like śrāddha depend not merely on clock-time but on the presence of the qualified Brāhmaṇa, who makes the rite timely and efficacious.
In the Yakṣa-prashna setting of the Vana Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira responds to the Yakṣa with paradoxical, value-laden identifications—redefining ‘direction,’ ‘water,’ ‘food,’ and ‘time’ in ethical and ritual terms—and then asks the Yakṣa’s view, continuing the dialogic test of wisdom and dharma.