Riddles at the Lake was one story that really stood out to me throughout the section of readings. The Pandava had been in exile for twelve years at this point in the woods. One last challenge blocked them though from this exit of survival. A stag with twig antlers was sprinting away through the woods, and they were instructed to catch it. The twigs were needed to start a fire. After chasing the stag, they were all exhausted so they needed to rest and drink some water. Yudhishthira had sent Nakula to the river, but said not to drink from it until he had answered the question. Nakula was so thirsty though, he completely forgot about all the fear of the Yudhishthira. As he drank from the waters, he died. Sahadeva followed his brother andgazed upon the pool, and even though he heard the voice too, he drank from the pool. He died.
Arjuna approached the water and demanded the voice show itself. He ended up drinking from the river, along with Bhima, and they both fell dead. Yudhishthira approached his brothers and saw them all dead, and asked the voice to appear. The voice claimed he was yaksha and he had warned his brothers to not drink the water. Yudhishthira told the yaksha to ask his questions and so it began. The yaksha asked a multitude of questions, each one being answered by Yudhishthira with a sense of wisdom and knowledge. After all the questions had been answered, the voice revealed himself as Dharma, the god of wisdom and justice. Dharma granted Yudhishthira two boons, and then he asked Dharma to bring his brothers back to life. So Dharma accepted this request and brought his brothers back and gave the brothers all the power to claim the thrown and to never be challenged.
(Pandava's Exile: wikimedia)
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