Yama Gautama Saṃvāda

This short dialogue is Chapter 129 of the Śānti Parva. Yama, Dharmarāja, ruler of the dead and judge of all beings, comes to the ṛshi Gautama at his āśrama near the Pāriyātra mountain. Gautama had done sixty thousand years of tapas (austerity). He asks how a person repays the debt to his parents and reaches the purest lokas. Yama answers that it is done by daily, devoted service to one’s parents and by aśvamedha yajñas with proper dakshiṇās (gifts to the priests).

The setting

Bhīshma tells this as an ancient itihāsa (the account is called a prātaḥkālīya itihāsa, one told in the morning) when Yudhishṭhira asks for more teaching on dharma. Yudhishṭhira is far from satisfied. He says that hearing Bhīshma’s teaching is like drinking amṛta (the nectar of immortality), and he cannot have enough of it.

The ṛshi Gautama had made his āśrama at the Pāriyātra mountain, a holy region. There he had done sixty thousand years of tapas, and his form blazed with the tejas (radiance) gathered by that great austerity.

Yama’s visit

Dharmarāja Yama, king of the pitṛs (ancestors), the great judge of all beings and dharma itself, came to the āśrama and saw Gautama. The ṛshi knew Yama at once from his appearance. With a steady, undisturbed mind he folded his hands and stayed seated.

Gautama honoured Yama as the dharma of hospitality asks. “What shall I do for you?” he asked.

Gautama’s question

Gautama asked the most basic question of household life: how does a person repay the ṛṇa (debt) he owes to his parents, and how does one reach the pure lokas that are hard to win?

The question rests on the three ṛṇas that every person is born with. The first is the debt to the devas, repaid by yajña. The second is the debt to the ṛshis, repaid by studying and teaching the Veda. The third is the debt to the parents, repaid by dutiful service, śrāddha and the continuing of the family line.

Yama’s answer

Yama answered both parts of the question.

The debt to parents. One must honour one’s parents with pūjā every day (pratidina), with śraddhā (faith and devotion), together with śauca (purity) and satya (truthfulness). A person who honours his parents faithfully and without a break repays the debt to them day by day.

Reaching the purest lokas. One must perform aśvamedha yajñas, rightly carried out and with generous dakshiṇās. When such yajñas are done with the right mind and the right ritual conduct, the one who performs them is fit for the highest lokas. These are called the adbhuta-darśana lokas, the lokas of wondrous appearance, which are usually out of reach.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Rājadharmānuśāsana Parva, Chapter 129