Who is Yudhishthira?

The son of Dharma

Yudhishthira was the eldest of the five Pandava brothers, born to Kunti through Dharma, the god of righteousness. He grew up to be calm, fair and famously truthful. People called him Ajatashatru, "the one with no enemies," because he bore no one ill will.

He was the rightful heir to the throne, which was exactly what made Duryodhana hate him.

The game of dice

Yudhishthira had one weakness: he could not refuse a challenge. When Duryodhana invited him to play dice against Shakuni, a master of the game, he lost his wealth, his kingdom, his brothers, himself, and finally his wife Draupadi. The Pandavas were sent into exile for thirteen years.

It is the darkest moment of his life, and it makes him one of the most human heroes in any epic: a good man who made a terrible mistake and had to live with it.

The wise answers

In the forest, Yudhishthira found his four brothers lying dead beside a lake. A spirit, a yaksha, asked him a series of riddles about life. "What is the greatest wonder?" Every day people die, and yet the living act as if they never will. He answered every question, and his brothers were given back their lives.

How Yudhishthira’s story ends (spoilers)

Yudhishthira won the war and became king, but grieved for everyone it had cost. Decades later he walked toward the Himalayas with his brothers and Draupadi. One by one they fell, until only he and a stray dog remained. Offered a place in heaven, he refused to enter without the dog. The dog was Dharma, his father, testing him one last time.