Week 5 Storytelling: Hundred Questions and a Fish

Greetings stranger! My name is Maat Matsya. Maat is the sanskrit word for truth and law, and Matsya means fish. And thus, I am the fish of truth – I tell the stories and bring truth to the creatures under the sea. Today, I will tell the story of the Pandava brothers and the hundred questions.

My friend Bart the Bird had told me of five brothers chasing a mighty deer. They chased this deer all through the forest – this magical deer was too fast though, they would never catch him. As my pond is the only water for many leagues, I knew these brothers would soon come to quench their thirst. I waited patiently for them, for I do love to watch humans. They are so silly with their arms and legs.

I suppose I was not the only one privy to their location. The God of Justice, Yama, soon came to the edge of the pond. He muttered to himself that he wished to challenge these brothers to a trial of questions. He wished to test the brother’s strength of mind, especially the brother named Yudhishthira.

A goldfish, much like the narrator of this story. By Benson Kua. 

Just as the first brother was approaching, I saw the god transform himself into a yaksha. Yama was pretending to by the benevolent caretaker of the mystical pond. I curiously watched as Yama boomed, “Stop! This is my pond, and you may not touch it until you answer my questions.” Now this brother, named Nakula could not hear past his great thirst, and so he took a drink from the pond. Oh how I wished to shake him and tell him about the test, but I am only a fish after all.

Nakula fell to his death – or so Yama made it appear. Being the fish of truth, I could see past this illusion. The brother was simply in a deep sleep, which was a dirty trick indeed. But even I, the fish embodiment of truth, cannot resist a fun test!

Just a Nakula had fallen, the next brother ran up. His name was Sahadeva, and he too was warned by Yama. Like his brother, he ignored the warning and took a drink of the cold water. He too fell to his death (or deep sleep, to you and me).

A beautiful pond, by Easchiff. 

The third brother, Arjuna, appeared next. Oh how silly he looked shooting his arrows this way and that! He couldn’t see Yama, so he just shot in all directions. However, with this anger came even more thirst. And so, Arjuna joined his brothers in death.

Oh my, just thinking back to the fourth brother brings back such terror. This man was huge! His muscles were giant! He was none other than Bhima. I don’t know if the “brains or brawns” thing is true, but this brother also drank from the pond, despite Yama’s multiple warnings not to do so. Do these brothers even have ears? I know they do, because they are sticking out in such a silly manner – almost as silly as the human nose.

Now, the only hope for the Pandava brothers to pass the test was the final brother, Yudhishthira. I had heard from the gossip goose about this brother’s gambling addiction, so I was not feeling too confident in him being able to pass a test on strength of mind.

An underwater scene, by JulieLuke. 

The final brother approached the edge of the pond. Upon seeing his brothers, he paused. I could see his mind whirling, filled with many questions. How did his brothers die? Who did this? What is in this pond? The voice of Yama called out his warning, “do not drink the water until you answer my questions.”

Yudhishthira asked who the voice belonged to, and so Yama presented himself in his yaksha form. Once again, the brother was given the warning. Despite his great thirst, Yudhishthira agreed to answer the questions.

You might recall me saying this was a story about the Pandava brothers and a hundred questions. Well a hundred might be an understatement – there were SO MANY QUESTIONS! Yama really grilled Yudhishthira. The philosophy behind such questions was very complex. Even I, the fish of truth, could barely keep up. Yama really knew his stuff, but Yudhishthira proved to know it too! After many hours of questioning, in the heat of the sun, the brother was finally granted a drink from the pond.

Yama revealed himself as the God of Justice, and also revived the other brothers. This god, who was actually Yudhishthira’s father, was so proud of his son. As a reward, he granted the brothers with the power to remain incognito – which was apparently a good thing for they cheered so loud that they woke up my grandchildren.

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Author's Note:
I was inspired for this story by the Hundred Questions chapter in the Mahabharata. I wanted to retell this story in a creative way, and while I was browsing the storytelling style page I came across the "beneath the sea" option. I thought I could put a twist on the style and perhaps write a story about a fish creature watching all of the events happen before him. He knows the yakshas true identity, and he can also see the foolhardy Pandavas ignore the warnings. I think this offers a unique perspective of fish narrating the lives of the silly humans above - like we are a TV show for them!

I chose the three pictures above to represent the fish watching the scene play out. I wanted to show what the pond might have looked like - maybe not the cleanest of water, but if you are thirsty you will drink just about anything! Also, I like the idea of the image not being totally clear. The fish sees things in a slightly skewed manner, so having an underwater image lets the reader see what the fish sees.

Bibliography:
"Hundred Questions" by R. K. Narayan, from The Mahabharata (1978). Book.
Source: Reading Guide.