Shloka 85
युधिष्ठिर बोले--दरिद्र पुरुष मरा हुआ है यानी मरे हुएके समान है, बिना राजाका राज्य मर जाता है यानी नष्ट हो जाता है, श्रोत्रिय ब्राह्मणके बिना श्राद्ध मृत हो जाता है और बिना दक्षिणाका यज्ञ नष्ट हो जाता है ।।
yakṣa uvāca | dik kiṃ udakaṃ proktaṃ kim annaṃ kiṃ ca vai viṣam | śrāddhasya kālam ākhyāhi tataḥ piba harasva ca ||
Yakṣa nói: “Thế nào được gọi là ‘phương hướng’? Thế nào là ‘nước’? Thế nào là ‘thức ăn’? Và điều gì thật sự là ‘độc’? Hãy nói cho ta biết cả thời điểm thích hợp để cử hành lễ śrāddha. Rồi ngươi có thể uống—và cũng có thể mang nước đi.”
यक्ष उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames dharma as discernment: knowing true orientation (dik), what genuinely sustains (anna), what purifies and supports life (udaka), what harms (viṣa), and observing right timing in rites (śrāddha-kāla). Knowledge is presented as the condition for rightful enjoyment and entitlement (only after answering may one drink).
At the lake where the Pāṇḍavas have been struck down for ignoring a warning, the Yaksha tests Yudhiṣṭhira with defining questions. This verse contains the Yaksha’s prompt: answer these conceptual and ritual questions, and only then may Yudhiṣṭhira drink the water and take it.