Yudhisthira's Wisdom

                                                                                                                         Ancient Tales
                                                                                                                 (Source: The Mahabharata) 
                                                                                                               Shanta Rameshwar Rao. India
Summary in English

This story has been taken from the popular Hindi mythology "The Mahabharata". It is moral story that teaches us about the importance of wisdom, justice, morality, patience, courage and good conduct of life.
One day, Yudhisthira with his four brothers (Pandavs) starts hunting a deer in a forest. Meanwhile, they feel tired and thirsty. Therefore, Yudhisthira sends his brothers to search water. However, they never return back. It makes Yudhisthira feel so sad and goes for searching his brothers. As he starts walking, he finds a beautiful pool with fresh and cool water. He hears the voice calling him to answer before drinking water. The voice is a warning not to drink the water before answering the question. In fact, the voice is by Yaksha.
Yudhisthira obeys Yaksha before satisfying his thirst. Similarly, he correctly answers Yaksha's philosophical questions. Yaksha is pleased with Yudhisthira's wisdom. He appears in the form of Yama and tells Yudhisthira to choose one of the brothers whom he wants to save. Because except him, all brothers already drank the water disobeying the warning of the voice I.e. the voice of Yaksha and they fell on the ground one by one and became unconscious because of the curses of the voice.
Yudhisthira bases his choice entirely on the moral considerations, not on his own selfish needs and soon. Without selfishness, he asks his brother Nakula, only one son from his step mother to be saved. Yaksha is so happy with his wisdom. He even tells him that he restores all his brothers. In addition, Yaksha promises him to protection them from future hardships, and gives him some useful device on where to go next. Therefore, this story highlights the importance of wisdom, patience, courage, trustfulness, justice and morality to make successful life solving the every riddles of our life.