Storytelling Week 6- Brothers Face a Riddle

There were once five brothers with the last name of Pandava who were always competing with each other in sports. They loved to play football, soccer, tennis, and run in races against each other. The five of them had been like this for as long as they could remember. Sometimes the oldest brother would win, other times the youngest. Nobody really kept a long term record of who was the “most winningest” brother. It was all just for fun.

One day the brothers were at camp and had just finished a game of basketball when they came across a man sitting by a water jug. There were lots of water stations set up around the camp, so the brothers approached this one because it was the closest. The man by the jug said to them, “The first one to drink the water will not really be the first. It is a competition. Who will be the first to drink the water?”

One of the brothers named Nakula replied, “I don’t have time for your word games old man, I’m thirsty! Move over everyone. I’ll show you exactly who will be first!” Nakula helped himself to the water and immediately spat it out as if he had just drunk a bitter poison. The man looked knowingly at Nakula, and smirked at the remaining brothers.

Sahadeva was the next in line. He looked at his brother with sympathy and said, “C’mon Nakula, everyone knows the old saying ‘first is the worst, second is the best’. Therefore I will be the winner of the water if I am served second.” The man complied with Sahadeva’s request and served him a glass of the water. Similar to Nakula, Sahadeva also spat out the water in disgust.

This happened again for Arjuna and Bhima. Nobody could quench their thirst with the water from the jug. The boys were about to leave and find another place to get a drink, but the man stopped them and asked, “Yudhishthira, why have you not attempted to solve the riddle? Aren’t you thirsty as well?” Yudhishthira quietly responded, “There is an old teaching that says those who are first will be last and those who are last will be first. Therefore, I will wait to see if anyone else wants a drink before I drink.”

The man smiled at Yudhishthira’s wisdom. He responded, “I see no one else in line,” and handed Yudhishthira a bottle of water from behind the jug. The water was clean and refreshing. Yudhishthira only drank a small sip and then passed it around to his brothers. There was plenty to go around, and Yudhishthira was praised for his wisdom.

Water Pour Jug Pouring Liquid

Author: Not Listed, Date: 2014, Source: Pixabay

Author's Note: This story is an adaptation from the story about the Pandava brothers facing a riddle at the lake in our reading this week. I chose to make the characters more modern so the story would be more relatable. I added in the detail about the brothers being competitive so that the reader would feel like they know the characters better. Instead of dying by drinking the water, the brothers were simply given bad water. In both my version and the original story, Yudhishthira proves to be the most wise and patient brother, and is the only one who is able to answer the riddle. However, in this version the "wisdom" is taken from teachings of Christianity when Jesus preaches that those who are first will be last and vice versa.

Bibliography:

"Riddles at the Lake" by Donald A. Mackenzie, from Indian Myth and Legend (1913). Web source: here