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The Difficult Choice
The Yaksha was truly impressed and told Yudhishthira that he would restore only one of his brothers. His final question to grant that was, “Which of your brothers, the only one do you want me to revive?”
Yudhishthira without batting an eyelid answered, "I choose this one who is dark skinned, whose eyes are red, who is tall like a large Sala tree and whose chest is broad and arms are long. Yaksha, please revive Nakula.”
All along the Yaksha had accepted Yudhishthira’s answers without much-ado but this time he was rather intrigued. He was compelled to ask thus, “Bhima and Arjuna are your own brothers and you are so dependent on both of them. Then why did you choose this step brother of yours over Bhima whose strength is equal to that of ten thousand elephants and over Arjuna whose mastery in archery is revered by all?”
Yudhishthira explained, “My choice has been determined by the answers I have given to your questions. If a person sacrifices virtue, then he himself is doomed. But if a person upholds virtue then virtue ensures that the person is rewarded. Therefore I never forsake virtue. Abstaining from hurting others is an even greater objective than attaining liberation from rebirth. I have therefore chosen the path of virtue that will cause no hurt to anyone. My father, Pandu, had two wives, Kunti and Madri. I, the eldest son of Kunti, am alive. But both the sons of Madri, Nakul and Sahadeva are dead. I do not differentiate between my two mothers. I do not wish to hurt the soul of Madri by doing injustice towards her sons. Therefore I want the eldest son of Madri to be revived. My mother Kunti would have wished the same.”
The Pandavas Revive.........as we all know.
The Yaksha was impressed not only with Yudhishthira’s theoretical wisdom but also his courage to put this knowledge to practise. He therefore revived all the four Pandavas who had died because (unlike Yudhishthira), they dared sipping the water from the poisonous lake without answering his questions.
Source : Sai Devotees_ Worldnet
The Yaksha was truly impressed and told Yudhishthira that he would restore only one of his brothers. His final question to grant that was, “Which of your brothers, the only one do you want me to revive?”
Yudhishthira without batting an eyelid answered, "I choose this one who is dark skinned, whose eyes are red, who is tall like a large Sala tree and whose chest is broad and arms are long. Yaksha, please revive Nakula.”
All along the Yaksha had accepted Yudhishthira’s answers without much-ado but this time he was rather intrigued. He was compelled to ask thus, “Bhima and Arjuna are your own brothers and you are so dependent on both of them. Then why did you choose this step brother of yours over Bhima whose strength is equal to that of ten thousand elephants and over Arjuna whose mastery in archery is revered by all?”
Yudhishthira explained, “My choice has been determined by the answers I have given to your questions. If a person sacrifices virtue, then he himself is doomed. But if a person upholds virtue then virtue ensures that the person is rewarded. Therefore I never forsake virtue. Abstaining from hurting others is an even greater objective than attaining liberation from rebirth. I have therefore chosen the path of virtue that will cause no hurt to anyone. My father, Pandu, had two wives, Kunti and Madri. I, the eldest son of Kunti, am alive. But both the sons of Madri, Nakul and Sahadeva are dead. I do not differentiate between my two mothers. I do not wish to hurt the soul of Madri by doing injustice towards her sons. Therefore I want the eldest son of Madri to be revived. My mother Kunti would have wished the same.”
The Pandavas Revive.........as we all know.
The Yaksha was impressed not only with Yudhishthira’s theoretical wisdom but also his courage to put this knowledge to practise. He therefore revived all the four Pandavas who had died because (unlike Yudhishthira), they dared sipping the water from the poisonous lake without answering his questions.
Source : Sai Devotees_ Worldnet