your bridge home
The Great Epics
His brothers lay dead beside a forest lake. A mysterious voice said: drink, and you will die too, unless you answer my questions.
Four brothers ignored a voice telling them not to drink, and died. The fifth was asked what the greatest wonder in the world is.
It was late in the twelve years of exile. A brahmin's fire-sticks had been carried off in a deer's antlers. The Pandavas had chased it and lost it. They were deep in strange forest, worn out and very thirsty.
Nakula climbed a tree, saw water, and went to fetch some.
He found a clear lake, and as he bent to drink, a voice came out of the air: this water is mine. Answer my questions first, then drink.
He ignored it, drank, and fell dead on the bank.
Sahadeva came looking for him, found him lying there, was warned in the same words, ignored it, drank, and fell.
Arjuna came, found two brothers dead, heard the voice, and answered it with arrows, shooting into empty air in every direction. Then he drank, and fell.
The rest of this story, read aloud, and a new one every day.