The Poisoned Lake: A Dialogue Between Yaksha and Yudhishthira

 
After waiting a long time, Yudhishthira finally set out to search for his brothers. The desert stretched endlessly—no trees in sight, and the sun blazed mercilessly. His throat burned with thirst. At last, he spotted a shimmering lake in the distance. Hope surged: water at last, relief from thirst.
 
But as he approached, he was struck with grief—Bheem, Arjuna, Nakul, and Sahadeva lay lifeless by the lakeside. Yudhishthira was devastated. Who could have brought down the mighty Bheem and Arjuna? Perhaps the guardian of the lake—a Yaksha—had punished them. Maybe they drank water without permission.
 
Yudhishthira called out, “O Yaksha, you are compassionate. You guard this water in the barren desert and quench the thirst of weary travellers. My brothers may have erred. Please forgive them.”
 
The Yaksha appeared. Yudhishthira bowed and begged for his brothers’ lives.
 
The Yaksha replied, “Yudhishthira, I am not the one to forgive. Your brothers came here, desperate with thirst. I warned them—the water is poisoned, unfit to drink. But they ignored my words and drank. Death was inevitable.”
 
Yudhishthira pleaded again, “O Yaksha, you are wise. Is there no remedy? In ancient times, the Himalayas held the Sanjeevani herb. Hanuman used it to save Lakshmana. But now, not a single tree remains. The herb is lost.”
The Yaksha paused and asked, “What is the ultimate truth of life?”
 
Yudhishthira answered, “Death is the ultimate truth of life?”
 
The Yaksha laughed, “You understand truth well, Yudhishthira. Your brothers cannot be revived. There is no drinkable water here. You have two choices: drink this poisoned water and die swiftly, or die slowly of thirst.” The Yaksha vanished.
 
Yudhishthira sat in silence. “If death is certain, better to die with my brothers,” he thought. He drank the poisoned water. His thirst vanished. Moments later, so did his life.
 
All five Pandavas lay lifeless by the lake. The Mahabharata ended prematurely—not with the triumph of truth over falsehood, but with pollution’s triumph over humanity.
 
(Note: This is a vision of the future. In the coming decades, poisoned water may claim more lives than war. Conflicts over water—civil and global—may unfold before our eyes.)
 
(Inspired by Dr. Subhash S. Naik’s poem “Yaksha,” shared with generous permission for adaptation.)