1. Yudhishthira’s Answers to Yaksha’s Questions
from Mahabharata
Yaksha: What is Man?
Yudhishthira:The repute of a good deed touches heaven and earth.
One is called a man as long as his repute lasts. In other words, a
man is only as good as his deeds.
Yaksha: What is extraordinary?
Yudhishthira: What is extraordinary is that one sees people dying
every day, and one thinks that one will live forever. What could be
more extraordinary!?
Yaksha: What is the News?
Yudhishthira: Time cooks beings – That is the news! Time cooks
every creature in its cauldron.
Yaksha: What is the highest dharma in the world?
Yudhishthira: Compassion is the highest dharma.
Yaksha: What is happiness?
Yudhishthira: A person who cooks vegetables in his own home, who
has no debts, and who is not in exile, he is truly happy.
Compiled by Shankar Subramanian