यक्ष उवाच कि स्थैर्यमृषिश्रि: प्रोक्ते कि च धैर्यमुदाह्तम् । स््नान॑ च किं पर प्रोक्तं दानं च किमिहोच्यते
yakṣa uvāca: kiṁ sthairyam ṛṣiśreṣṭhaiḥ proktaṁ kiṁ ca dhairyam udāhṛtam | snānaṁ ca kiṁ paraṁ proktaṁ dānaṁ ca kim ihocyate ||
Якша спросил: «Что мудрецы называют стойкостью (sthairya)? И что провозглашается как мужественная выдержка (dhairya)? Что именуют высшим “омовением”, истинным очищением? И что здесь зовётся “даром” (dāna), подлинной милостыней?»
यक्ष उवाच
The verse frames a dharma-inquiry: true virtues are to be defined not merely as external acts (like bathing or giving) but by their ethical essence—steadfastness and fortitude as inner qualities, and purification and charity as values grounded in right conduct.
In the Yaksha–Yudhishthira dialogue at the lake (Yaksha-prashna), the Yaksha tests the responder’s understanding of dharma by asking concise definitional questions about key virtues and religious acts.