agitated, and as my head also is aching, I ask thee, therefore,
O worshipful one, who art thou that stayest here?' Hearing these words
the Yaksha said, 'I am, good betide thee, a Yaksha, and not an
amphibious bird. It is by me that all these brothers of thine, endued
with mighty prowess, have been slain!'"

[66] Samhritya--killing.

Vaisampayana continued, "Hearing these accursed words couched in harsh
syllabus,[67] Yudhishthira, O king, approaching the Yaksha who had
spoken then, stood there. And that bull among the Bharatas then beheld
that Yaksha of unusual eyes and huge body tall like a palmyra-palm and
looking like fire or the Sun, and irresistible and gigantic like a
mountain, staying on a tree, and uttering a loud roar deep as that of
the clouds. And the Yaksha said, 'These thy brothers, O king, repeatedly
forbidden by me, would forcibly take away water. It is for this that
they have been slain by me! He that wisheth to live, should not, O king,
drink this water! O son of Pritha, act not rashly! This lake hath
already been in my possession. Do thou, O son of Kunti, first answer my
questions, and then take away as much as thou likest!' Yudhishthira
said, 'I do not, O Yaksha, covet, what is already in thy possession! O
bull among male beings, virtuous persons never approve that one should
applaud his own self (without boasting, I shall, therefore, answer thy
questions, according to my intelligence). Do thou ask me!' The Yaksha
then said, 'What is it that maketh the Sun rise? Who keeps him company?
Who causeth him to set? And in whom is he established?' Yudhishthira
answered, '_Brahma_ maketh the Sun rise; the gods keep him company;
_Dharma_ causeth him to set; and he is established in truth.'[68] The
Yaksha asked, 'By what doth one become learned? By what doth he attain
what is very great? How can one have a second? And, O king, how can one
acquire intelligence?' Yudhishthira answered, 'It is by the (study of
the) _Srutis_ that a person becometh learned; it is by ascetic
austerities that one acquireth what is very great; it is by intelligence
that a person acquireth a second and it is by serving the old that one
becometh wise.'[69] The Yaksha asked, 'What constituteth the divinity of
the Brahmanas? What even is their practice that is like that of the
pious? What also is the human attribute of the Brahmanas? And what
practice of theirs is like that of the impious?' Yudhishthira answered,
'The study of the _Ved