The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hindusim vol 2
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Yoni<br />
784<br />
Navaratri, the festival <strong>of</strong> the “nine<br />
nights” that are sacred to the Goddess in<br />
her varying forms.<br />
Yoni<br />
Although in modern Hindi this has<br />
become a vulgar word for female<br />
genitalia, its most literal meaning is<br />
“womb,” both in a literal sense as the<br />
place <strong>of</strong> gestation and in a metaphorical<br />
sense as any place <strong>of</strong> origin, source, or<br />
generative power.<br />
Yudhishthira<br />
(“firm in battle”) In the Mahabharata,<br />
the later <strong>of</strong> the two great Hindu epics,<br />
Yudhishthira is the eldest <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Pandava brothers who are the epic’s<br />
protagonists. Yudhishthira is magically<br />
born when his mother, Kunti, uses a<br />
powerful mantra to have a son by<br />
Dharma, the god <strong>of</strong> righteousness.<br />
Yudhishthira is in all ways his father’s<br />
son; he is described in the epic as the<br />
manifestation <strong>of</strong> Dharma on earth. He<br />
is proverbial for his strict adherence to<br />
the truth, is courteous to all, and is<br />
committed to righteousness. His only<br />
personal flaw is a love <strong>of</strong> gambling, a<br />
love matched only by his complete lack<br />
<strong>of</strong> gaming skill, and this flaw has major<br />
repercussions.<br />
Because <strong>of</strong> his virtues, Yudhishthira<br />
is selected as heir to the throne by his<br />
uncle, Dhrtarashtra. This choice raises<br />
the jealousy <strong>of</strong> Dhrtarashtra’s son,<br />
Duryodhana. He first tries to kill the<br />
Pandavas by building the flammable<br />
house <strong>of</strong> lac. <strong>The</strong> house is burned, but<br />
the Pandavas are able to escape<br />
unharmed. Some time later, Duryodhana<br />
decides to win Yudhishthira’s rights to<br />
the kingship in a game <strong>of</strong> dice. Here<br />
Yudhishthira’s love for gambling gets the<br />
better <strong>of</strong> his judgment, for he is playing<br />
against Duryodhana’s maternal uncle,<br />
Shakuni, who is very skilled. As Yudhishthira<br />
begins to lose, he keeps betting<br />
bigger and bigger stakes, in an effort to<br />
win back what he has lost. After losing<br />
their kingdom and all their possessions,<br />
Yudhishthira wagers himself and<br />
his brothers. After losing this bet, he<br />
wagers and loses the Pandava brothers’<br />
common wife, Draupadi. This loss<br />
leads to Draupadi’s humiliation, in<br />
which she is paraded through the<br />
assembly hall by Duryodhana and his<br />
brother, Duhshasana, her clothes<br />
stained with her menstrual blood. This<br />
event sharpens the already strong enmities<br />
between the two groups. Shocked at<br />
such treatment, Duryodhana’s father,<br />
King Dhrtarashtra, gives the Pandavas<br />
back their freedom, but because <strong>of</strong> the<br />
loss in the game <strong>of</strong> dice, the Pandavas<br />
agree to go into exile for twelve years<br />
and live incognito for the thirteenth,<br />
with the condition that if they are<br />
discovered in the thirteenth year the<br />
cycle will begin anew.<br />
Yudhishthira and his brothers peacefully<br />
pass their twelve years in exile.<br />
During the thirteenth year, they live in the<br />
court <strong>of</strong> King Virata, where they remain<br />
undiscovered, despite frantic searching<br />
by Duryodhana’s spies. When the thirteen<br />
years have passed, Yudhishthira and<br />
his brothers return to claim their part <strong>of</strong><br />
the kingdom. Yudhishthira hopes for<br />
some sort <strong>of</strong> peaceful settlement and<br />
sends a message to Duryodhana saying<br />
that they will be satisfied with a mere five<br />
villages, one for each brother. When<br />
Duryodhana responds that they will not<br />
get as much land as could fit under the<br />
point <strong>of</strong> a needle, Yudhishthira realizes<br />
that they will not get their rights without<br />
a battle. He reluctantly mobilizes his<br />
brothers for war. He fights valiantly in<br />
the great war and is crowned the king<br />
after their victory.<br />
After ruling for many years,<br />
Yudhishthira sets out with his brothers<br />
and their wife, Draupadi, for the<br />
Himalayas, followed by a small dog. As<br />
they climb the mountains Draupadi and<br />
his brothers die one by one, but the dog<br />
remains with Yudhishthira. At the top <strong>of</strong><br />
the Himalayas Yudhishthira finds the<br />
god Indra, the king <strong>of</strong> heaven, waiting<br />
for him in a golden chariot. Indra tells<br />
Yudhishthira that he will take him to<br />
heaven but that Yudhishthira will have