In the previous episode, we had witnessed Yudishtra giving a beautiful reply to Yaksha’s tricky questions pertaining to “Dharma”. When it came to waking up his own brothers, even then, Yudishtra stuck to his “Dharma”. When given an option of waking up one out of the four brothers, Yudishtra chose Nakula for it, as he was the eldest son of Maadri Devi. As Kunthi Devi’s eldest son, Yudishtra himself is alive, so there is no problem in that. However, Maadri Devi’s representative in this world should always be there to execute all the “Dharma” towards her. Hence, in order to ensure the continuity of the “Dharma Kaaryam” that is being executed towards Maadri Devi who had died along with King Paandu, Nakula had to be alive. Thus, Yudishtra is extremely firm on the fact that duties towards a mother and a father are very important and this is as per “Dharma”. Moreover, even when he was given an option of waking up Bheemasena or Arjuna, who would have been used to win over Duryodhana and Co. in the war, Yudishtra did not want that. More than winning wars against enemies, following “Dharma” is of paramount importance for Yudishtra and with his answers to Yaksha, Yudishtra proves his point very clearly!
As this happens, Yaksha is in tears of joy! He is extremely happy with Yudishtra’s steadfast approach towards “Dharma” and he feels bad for whatever happened earlier. He should perhaps not have made Yudishtra’s brothers fall unconscious just because they did not seek his permission to consume the water from his pond. Realizing his mistake thus, and also with the thought that he should not be a stumbling block in Yudishtra’s pursuit towards “Dharma”, Yaksha replies to Yudishtra: “Oh Yudishtra! Today is an eye-opener for me! You’ve proved to be an epitome of “Dharma”! I should not be a stumbling block in your way of executing “Dharma” meticulously. You’re taking that effort which not many people are taking today. Hence, I repent for whatever happened earlier. Hereby, I grant the permission to wake up not just Nakula, but all your brothers as well! Within seconds, all your brothers will regain their consciousness and will unite with you! Please continue your pursuit towards “Dharma” without any blemish!”
Saying thus, Yaksha provides his divine “Anugraha” and with this, Bheemasena, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva regain consciousness once again! As this happens, Yaksha, who was in the form of a swan till now, is taking its real form. This Yaksha is none other than the great Yama-Dharma-Raja himself! As we know already by now, Yudishtra is none other than the son of Yama-Dharma-Raja. We’ve seen this story earlier as to how Kunthi Devi prayed to each “Devata” to obtain each of her sons. The first Devata to provide his “Anugraha” to Kunthi Devi was Soorya Bhagawan in the form of Karna. However, since Kunthi Devi wasn’t married at that time, she was guilty of having a baby before marriage, and hence, she left the baby in a raft amidst a river. Next in the line after Kunthi’s marriage was Yama-Dharma-Raja, who blessed her with Yudishtra. Since Yudishtra is Yama-Dharma-Raja’s son, right from the beginning, he was an epitome of “Dharma” in all aspects.
Thus here too, when Yama-Dharma-Raja himself wants to test his son, Yudishtra withstands his test successfully and this is what we’re witnessing here. Revealing his original form in front of Yudishtra, Yama-Dharma Raja speaks to him thus, “Oh Yudishtra! I’m none other than your own father, Yama-Dharma-Raja who came in the form of this swan to test you! You’ve successfully passed my test, quite as usual! I came here to provide my divine “Anugraha” to you and to all of your brothers! You’re going to enter into an important phase of your life and you’re going to endure a lot from here on. However, do not worry. Please continue following your path of “Dharma” and you will emerge successful. Moreover, you have Bhagawan Krishna with you always. If you follow “Dharma”, He will always rally behind you at all times. So please do not worry! Success is yours!”
Saying thus, Yama-Dharma-Raja provides his divine “Anugraha” to Yudishtra and all his four brothers and for today, let us understand up to this point. We shall continue this discussion in the next episode as well! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 