Yudhishthira is one of the main characters of the Indian epic Mahabharata. At a certain moment of the story he finds his brothers dead, they attempted to drink water from a lake without answering a Crane that advised them. The Crane asks Yudhishthira philosophical questions and after giving all the correct answers his brothers return to life.
In Peter Brook‘s film The Mahabharata (1989) is the lake itself that poses the questions, what is quicker than the wind? what is the cause of the world? what is your opposite?…one of the last ones being: what for each of us is inevitable? Yudhishthira answers: Happiness.
When I saw the film for the first time, it captivated me because of the story and because of the way the story was told. And the questions and answers in this dialogue between the lake/Dharma and Yudhishthira seemed to me of extraordinary philosophical beauty. I had to compose this music.
Here the song we recorded for our album Tamed:
Personnel: Antonio Flinta piano, Piercarlo Salvia tenor sax, Roberto Bucci double bass and Claudio Gioannini drums
Here played live at Borovets Dr. Jazz Festival, Bulgaria, on August 2022:
And here the scene of the lake from Peter Brook’s film: