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Janamejaya asked which regions his ancestors of old had come to hold, the Pandavas and the sons of Dhritarashtra, once they reached heaven. He said he believed Vaishampayana knew all of it, having been taught by the great rishi Vyasa of wonderful feats. Listen now, Vaishampayana answered, to what Yudhishthira and his brothers did after they came to heaven, that dwelling place of the gods. When Yudhishthira the just reached it, the first sight his eyes fell upon turned his heart in an instant to anger. On a splendid seat, blazing with light like the sun, wearing every mark of glory that belongs to a hero, in the company of many gods of dazzling radiance and Sadhyas of righteous deeds, sat Duryodhana. The same Duryodhana on whose account the whole earth had been made a field of the dead, Yudhishthira saw enthroned at the summit of splendor. He stopped where he stood and turned away from the sight.
Yudhishthira turns away at the sight of Duryodhana in heaven
He spoke out loudly, so that the gods who had come with him could hear. I have no wish to share these regions of happiness with Duryodhana, he said, a man stained by greed and short of foresight. It was for him that we slaughtered friends and kinsmen across the whole earth, he who had harried us so greatly in the deep forest. It was for him that the virtuous princess of Pancala, our faultless wife Draupadi, was dragged into the middle of the assembly in front of all our elders. I have no desire even to look upon Suyodhana, you gods. I wish to go where my brothers are.
Then Narada, smiling, told him, It should not be so, king of kings. Once one dwells in heaven, all enmities fall away. Do not speak like this of king Duryodhana, mighty-armed Yudhishthira. Hear my words. Here king Duryodhana is honored among the gods by those righteous men and those foremost of kings who are now the dwellers of heaven. By pouring his own body as a libation onto the fire of battle, he has reached the end that consists in the attainment of the region set aside for heroes. You and your brothers, who were gods walking the earth, were harried by this one without rest, and yet by his keeping of the Kshatriya way he has come to this region. This lord of the earth did not flinch in a place made of terror.
You should not carry in your mind the sorrows the game of dice brought you, my son, Narada went on. It does not become you to call up again the afflictions of Draupadi. It does not become you to call up the other wrongs that came to you through the acts of your kinsmen, whether by battle or by other turns. Meet Duryodhana now according to the manner of courteous men. This is heaven, lord of men. There can be no enmity here.
A key to reading this (the idea): The Svargarohana Parva, the book of the ascent to heaven, is the eighteenth and last book of the Mahabharata. The moral question here is sharp. Narada’s argument is that Duryodhana gave up his body on the field of battle in the way of a Kshatriya and so won a hero’s place, and for that he is honored in heaven. His unrighteousness is not answered here. The only thing said is that in heaven no enmity remains. Yudhishthira does not take the argument easily.
The gist: Reaching heaven, Yudhishthira saw Duryodhana at the summit of splendor and turned away in anger, saying he wanted no heaven shared with the man who had caused Draupadi’s humiliation and the ruin of the whole earth. Narada explained that in heaven no enmities remain, and that Duryodhana had won a hero’s end by the way of a Kshatriya.
Yudhishthira searches for his brothers and Karna
Though Narada had spoken so, the Kuru king Yudhishthira, endued with great intelligence, held to his mind and asked after his brothers. If these eternal regions kept for heroes belong to Duryodhana, he said, that unrighteous and sinful man, the destroyer of friends and of the whole world, the man for whose sake the entire earth was laid waste with all her horses and elephants and human beings, the man on whose account we were burned with anger as we turned over how best to set our wrongs right, then I wish to see what regions have been reached by those high-souled heroes, my brothers of high vows, steady keepers of their promises, truthful in speech, and famed for their courage.
Where is the high-souled Karna, the son of Kunti, who could not be baffled in battle, he asked, and Dhrishtadyumna, and Satyaki, and the sons of Dhrishtadyumna, and the other Kshatriyas who met their death in the keeping of the Kshatriya way? Where are those lords of the earth, brahmana? I do not see them here, Narada. I wish to see Virata and Drupada and the other great Kshatriyas headed by Dhrishtaketu, and Shikhandi the prince of Pancala, and the sons of Draupadi, and Abhimanyu, who could not be turned back in battle.
You gods, I do not see here the son of Radha of measureless prowess, he said, nor my high-souled brothers, nor Yudhamanyu and Uttamaujas, those great car-warriors who poured their bodies as libations onto the fire of battle, those kings and princes who met death for my sake in the fighting. Where are those great car-warriors who had the prowess of tigers? Have those foremost of men reached this region? If those great car-warriors have reached these regions, then know, you gods, that I will stay here with those high-souled ones. If this blessed and eternal region has not been reached by those kings, then know that without those brothers and kinsmen of mine I will not live here.
Then Yudhishthira opened a wound he had carried a long time. When the water rites were performed after the battle, he said, I heard my mother say, Offer oblations of water for Karna as well. Since hearing those words of my mother I have been burning with grief. And I grieve without pause at this, that when I marked how the feet of my mother and the feet of Karna of measureless soul were alike, I did not at once place myself under the command of that scatterer of hostile ranks. Had we been joined with Karna, Shakra himself could not have beaten us in battle. Wherever that child of Surya may be, I wish to see him. His bond with us stayed unknown, and I had him slain by the hand of Arjuna.
Bhima too, of terrible prowess and dearer to me than the breath in my body, he said, and Arjuna, who is the equal of Indra himself, and the twins, who matched the Destroyer in prowess, these I wish to see. I wish to see the princess of Pancala, whose conduct was always righteous. I do not wish to stay here. I tell you the truth. What is heaven to me, foremost of the gods, if I am cut off from my brothers? Heaven is where my brothers are. This place, to my mind, is no heaven.
A sub-tale, hinted at: This remorse of Yudhishthira’s is tied to the secret of Karna’s birth. Before her marriage, Kunti had borne Karna by the mantra of Surya, and out of fear of disgrace had set him adrift on the water. The Pandavas did not know this secret until the war was over. His mother’s order to offer water for Karna, and the likeness she bore to Karna in the very feet, opened to Yudhishthira the truth that he had brought about the death of his own eldest brother.
The gist: Not finding his brothers, Karna, Draupadi, the sons of Draupadi, Abhimanyu, or any of the heroes of his side in heaven, Yudhishthira declared that without them this heaven was no heaven for him. His remorse over Karna’s unknowing death became the deepest point of his grief.
The journey with the messenger down the foul road
The gods said, If you long to be there, go then, my son, without delay. At the command of the chief of the gods, we are ready to do what pleases you. Having said so, they told one of the celestial messengers to show Yudhishthira his friends and his kinsmen. Then the royal son of Kunti and the messenger set out together toward the place where those chiefs of men were whom Yudhishthira had wished to see. The messenger went first. The king followed behind him.
The road was foul and hard to walk, worn by the feet of men of sinful deeds. Thick darkness lay over it, and it was clothed in hair and moss as if in a garment of grass. It stank of sinners, and its mire was of flesh and blood. Gadflies and stinging bees and gnats swarmed there, and grisly bears made it dangerous. Rotting corpses lay here and there. Bones and hair were strewn across it, and it crawled with worms and insects. A blazing fire ran along its whole edge. Crows and vultures and other birds haunted it, all with beaks of iron, and evil spirits with long mouths pointed like needles. It fell away into fastnesses as unreachable as the Vindhya mountains. Human corpses lay scattered over it, smeared with fat and blood, some with their arms and thighs cut off, some with their entrails torn out and their legs severed.
Along that path, so foul with the stench of the dead and so dreadful in what befell there, the righteous king walked on, his mind crowded with thoughts. He saw a river full of boiling water, so that no one could cross it, and a forest of trees whose leaves were sharp swords and razors. There were plains of fine white sand heated past bearing, and rocks and boulders made of iron. Everywhere stood iron jars filled with boiling oil. There were many a Kuta-salmali, thick with sharp thorns and agony to the touch. The son of Kunti saw as well the tortures laid upon sinful men.
Looking on that foul region, heavy with every kind of foulness, Yudhishthira asked the messenger, How far are we to go along a road like this? You should tell me where my brothers are. And I wish to know which region of the gods this is.
Hearing these words of Yudhishthira the just, the celestial messenger halted where he stood and answered, This is as far as your way goes. The dwellers in heaven charged me that, having come this far, I was to stop. If you are weary, king of kings, you may turn back with me.
A key to reading this (the setting): The Kuta-salmali is the thorny silk-cotton tree, taken as a sign of the torments of hell. The river of boiling water is named later as the Vaitarani, which the Puranas describe as the river running along the border of hell. All of these images belong to the traditional descriptions of hell.
The gist: The messenger led Yudhishthira down a road of hell filled with deep darkness, foul stench, rotting corpses, jars of boiling oil, and the thorny Kuta-salmali. At a fixed point the messenger halted and asked him to turn back.
The kinsmen’s piteous call, and Yudhishthira’s choice to stay
Yudhishthira was sick at heart and dulled by the foul odor. He made up his mind to return and turned his steps back the way he had come. Weighed down with sorrow and grief, the righteous king had only begun to turn when piteous cries reached him from every side. O son of Dharma, they said, O royal sage, O you of sacred birth, O son of Pandu, stay a moment and show us your favor. At your approach, unconquered one, a delightful breeze has begun to blow, carrying the sweet scent of your person, and at this our relief has been great. Beholding you, foremost of kings, first among men, our happiness has been great. Let that happiness last a little longer, son of Pritha, through your staying here for a few moments more. Remain here, son of Bharata, even for a short while. As long as you are here, the torments cease to afflict us.
These and many similar words, uttered in piteous voices by persons in pain, the king heard in that region, wafted to his ears from every side. Hearing the words of those beings in woe, Yudhishthira, whose heart was easily moved, cried aloud, Alas, how painful. And the king stood still. The speeches of those woe-begone and afflicted ones seemed to the son of Pandu to be uttered in voices he had heard before, though he could not name them then.
Unable to place the voices, the son of Dharma asked, Who are you? Why do you stay here? At this they answered him from all sides. I am Karna. I am Bhimasena. I am Arjuna. I am Nakula. I am Sahadeva. I am Dhrishtadyumna. I am Draupadi. We are the sons of Draupadi. So, king, did those voices speak, and give their names.
Hearing those cries, uttered in the tones of pain that suited the place, Yudhishthira asked himself, What twisted order is this? What sins did these high-souled beings commit, Karna and the sons of Draupadi and the slender-waisted princess of Pancala, that their dwelling should be set in this region of foul reek and great woe? I know of no wrong that can be laid to these people of righteous deeds. What is the act by which Suyodhana, the son of Dhritarashtra, with all his sinful followers, has come into such splendor, honored as highly as the great Indra himself? And what is the act whose fruit has thrown these high-souled ones into hell? Every one of them knew every duty. They were heroes, devoted to truth and to the Vedas, keepers of the Kshatriya way, righteous in their deeds, performers of sacrifices, givers of great gifts to brahmanas. Am I asleep or awake? Am I conscious or unconscious? Or is all this a delusion of the mind, born of some disorder of the brain?
Overwhelmed by sorrow and grief, his senses shaken with anxiety, king Yudhishthira turned these thoughts over for a long time. Then a great anger rose in the son of Dharma. Indeed, in that hour Yudhishthira reproached the gods, and reproached Dharma himself. Stung by the very foul odor, he said to the messenger, Return to the presence of those whose messenger you are. Tell them that I will not go back to where they are, but will stay even here, since, by my companionship, these afflicted brothers of mine have found comfort. When the intelligent son of Pandu had spoken so, the messenger went back to the place where Indra stood, he of the hundred sacrifices, and laid before him everything Yudhishthira had said.
A key to reading this (the moral heart): This moment is the story’s crisis of dharma. Yudhishthira, always called the very image of dharma, here reproaches the gods and even dharma itself. His reasoning is plain: if the righteous are in hell and the unrighteous in heaven, how can the order be just? And his choice is to give up the comfort of heaven and stay in hell with his brothers, so that his presence might bring the suffering some relief.
The gist: Hearing from the road of hell the piteous call of his brothers, Karna, and Draupadi, Yudhishthira stopped. Wondering why the righteous should be in hell and the unrighteous in heaven, he reproached the gods and dharma, sent the messenger back, and declared that he would stay here with his own people rather than in heaven.
The coming of the gods, and the vanishing of the illusion of hell
King Yudhishthira the just, the son of Pritha, had stood there no more than a moment when all the gods, with Indra at their head, came to that spot. The god of Righteousness came too, in his embodied form, to the place where the Kuru king was, to look upon that monarch. As those gods of shining bodies and sanctified and noble deeds drew near, the darkness that had covered the region lifted at once. The torments undergone by beings of sinful deeds were no longer to be seen. The river Vaitarani, the thorny Salmali, the iron jars, and the boulders of rock so dreadful to behold all vanished from sight. The many hideous corpses the Kuru king had seen were gone in the same instant. Then, because the gods were present, a breeze began to blow across that spot, delicious and sweet with perfume, perfectly pure and delightfully cool. The Maruts came with Indra, the Vasus with the twin Ashvinis, the Sadhyas, the Rudras, the Adityas, and the other dwellers of heaven, and the Siddhas and the great rishis, all to the place where the son of Dharma stood in his great radiance.
Then Shakra, the lord of the gods, blazing with splendor, spoke to comfort Yudhishthira. Come, come, mighty-armed Yudhishthira, chief of men. These illusions are ended, you of great power. Success has been attained by you, and the eternal regions of joy have become yours. You must not give way to anger. Hear these words of mine. Hell, my son, must without doubt be beheld by every king. In each of us there is much of both good and evil. The one who enjoys first the fruits of his good acts must afterward endure hell. The one who first endures hell afterward enjoys heaven. The one whose sinful acts are many enjoys heaven first. It is for this, king, that, wishing you well, I had you sent to look upon hell.
What Indra said next is a sharp turn in the tale. You had once, by a pretense, deceived Drona in the matter of his son, he said, and in consequence of that you have been shown hell by an act of deception. After the manner of yourself, Bhima, and Arjuna, and Draupadi have all been shown the place of sinners by an act of deception. Come, chief of men. Every one of them has been cleansed of sin. All those kings who had aided you and were slain in battle have reached heaven. Come and behold them, foremost one of the race of Bharata.
Karna, the mighty bowman, that foremost of all who wield weapons, for whom you grieve, has also reached high success, Indra said. Behold, you of great power, that foremost of men, the son of Surya. He is in the place that is his own, mighty-armed one. Kill this grief of yours, chief of men. Behold your brothers, and the other kings who took your side. They have all reached their own places of joy. Let the fever of your heart be dispelled. Having endured a little misery first, from this time sport with me in happiness, freed of grief, all your ailments dispelled.
Enjoy now, mighty-armed one, the rewards of all your deeds of righteousness, and the regions you won for yourself by your penances and your gifts, Indra went on. Let gods and Gandharvas and the celestial Apsaras, robed in pure white and adorned with fine ornaments, wait upon you and serve you for your happiness. Enjoy the regions that became yours through the Rajasuya sacrifice you performed, whose felicity was raised higher by the sacrificial scimitar you employed. Your regions, Yudhishthira, stand above those of kings. They are the equal of Harishchandra’s. Come and sport there in bliss. Where the royal sage Mandhatri is, where king Bhagiratha is, where Bharata the son of Dushmanta is, there you will sport in bliss. Here is the celestial river, sacred and sanctifying the three worlds, that is called the heavenly Ganga. Plunge into it, and you will go to your own regions. Once you have bathed in this stream, you will be divested of your human nature. Your grief dispelled, your ailments conquered, you will be freed of all enmities.
A key to reading this (the moral heart): Indra’s words here are the moral center of the story, and they are not softened. Yudhishthira was shown hell because, at the killing of Drona, he had deceived his teacher by a trick, announcing the death of Ashvatthama the elephant as though it were the death of Ashvatthama the son of Drona. That half-truth, the deception of the war’s deciding hour, is named here as the cause of his punishment. By stating the rule that every king must see hell once, Indra neither forgives the trick nor erases it. He only says its fruit has now been borne.
The gist: The moment the gods arrived, the whole scene of hell faded like an illusion. Indra explained that every king must see hell once, and that Yudhishthira had been shown it in particular as the fruit of the trick played on Drona, just as Bhima, Arjuna, and Draupadi too had been shown hell by an act of deception. Now they were cleansed, and Indra invited him to bathe in the heavenly Ganga and go to the divine worlds.
Dharma’s third test, and the divine form from the Ganga
While the chief of the gods was speaking so to Yudhishthira, the god of Righteousness, in his embodied form, turned to his own son and said, I am greatly pleased with you, king of great wisdom, my son, by your devotion to me, by the truth of your speech, and by your forgiveness and your self-restraint. This, indeed, is the third test, king, to which I have put you, and you cannot be swerved from your nature or your reason. Once before, in the Dwaita woods, I examined you by my questions, when you had come to that lake to recover a couple of fire-sticks, and you stood it well. Assuming the shape of a dog, I examined you once more, my son, when your brothers and Draupadi had fallen. This has been your third test: you have expressed your wish to stay in hell for the sake of your brothers. You have been cleansed, most blessed one. Purified of sin, be happy.
Your brothers, son of Pritha, were never such as to deserve hell, Dharma said. All of this has been an illusion created by the chief of the gods. Without doubt, every king, my son, must once behold hell, and so for a little while you have been subjected to this great affliction. Neither Arjuna, nor Bhima, nor any of those foremost of men, the twins, nor Karna, ever truthful in speech and possessed of great courage, could deserve hell for long. And the princess Krishna, that is Draupadi, could never deserve that place of sinners. Come, come, foremost of the Bharatas, and behold the Ganga, who spreads her current across the three worlds.
So bidden, that royal sage, your grandsire, went forward with Dharma and all the other gods. He bathed in the celestial river Ganga, sacred and sanctifying and forever adored by the rishis, and there he cast off his human body. In consequence of that bath he took on a celestial form, and king Yudhishthira the just was divested of all his enmities and his grief. Surrounded by the gods, the Kuru king went on from that spot. Dharma walked with him, and the great rishis uttered his praises. So he reached the place where those foremost of men, those heroes, the Pandavas and the sons of Dhritarashtra, freed of human anger, were each enjoying his own state.
A sub-tale: The two earlier tests Dharma speaks of have already come in the Mahabharata. The first was in the Dwaita forest, when the Pandavas, following a deer that had carried off a brahmana’s fire-sticks, came to a lake, and Dharma, in the form of a Yaksha, put his questions (the Yaksha Prashna); answering them rightly, Yudhishthira brought his fallen brothers back to life. The second was in the Mahaprasthanika Parva, on the journey to the Himalaya, when Draupadi and the brothers fell one by one and a single dog walked with Yudhishthira to the end, a dog who was in truth Dharma himself. In this third test Yudhishthira proved his steadiness by leaving heaven to choose hell with his brothers.
The gist: Dharma appeared and told him that the whole scene of hell had been his third test, and that Yudhishthira had passed it. The Pandavas and Draupadi had never deserved hell. Bathing in the heavenly Ganga, Yudhishthira gave up his human body, took on a divine form, and, freed of all enmity and grief, reached the world where his kinsmen were.
Reunion with his kinsmen in the divine world
Praised by the gods, the Maruts, and the rishis, king Yudhishthira came to the place where those foremost ones of the race of Kuru were. There he saw Govinda in his Brahma-form. It resembled that form of his which had been seen before, and that likeness made the recognition easy. Blazing forth in that form, he was adorned with celestial weapons, the terrible discus and the rest, each in its own embodied shape. He was being adored by the heroic Phalguna, who himself shone with a blazing effulgence. The son of Kunti saw the slayer of Madhu in his own form as well. Those two foremost of beings, adored by all the gods, beheld Yudhishthira and received him with the honors due to him.
In another place the delight of the Kurus saw Karna, that foremost one among all who wield weapons, resembling a dozen suns in splendor. In another part he saw Bhimasena of great puissance, seated in the midst of the Maruts and blazing in form, at the side of the God of Wind in his embodied shape. Bhima was in a celestial form of great beauty then, come to the highest success. In the place belonging to the Ashvinis, the delight of the Kurus saw Nakula and Sahadeva, each blazing with his own effulgence.
He saw the princess of Pancala too, decked in garlands of lotuses. Having reached heaven, she sat there in a form bright as the sun. Yudhishthira, on a sudden impulse, wished to question her. Then the illustrious Indra, the chief of the gods, spoke to him. This one is Sri herself, he said. It was for your sake that she took birth among human beings as the daughter of Drupada, issuing from no mother’s womb, Yudhishthira, endued with agreeable fragrance and able to delight the whole world. For your pleasure the wielder of the trident made her. She was born in the line of Drupada, and you all had her for your wife. These five highly blessed Gandharvas, bright with the effulgence of fire and full of great energy, were, king, the sons of Draupadi and of you.
Behold Dhritarashtra, the king of the Gandharvas, possessed of great wisdom, Indra went on. Know that he was the eldest brother of your father. Here is your own eldest brother, the son of Kunti, endued with the effulgence of fire: the son of Surya, foremost of men, the one known in the world as the son of Radha. He moves in the company of Surya. Behold this foremost of beings. Among the tribes of the Sadhyas, the gods, the Viswedevas, and the Maruts, king of kings, behold the mighty car-warriors of the Vrishnis and the Andhakas, with Satyaki for their first, and the strong ones among the Bhojas. Behold the son of Subhadra, invincible in battle, now staying with Soma: this is the mighty bowman Abhimanyu, now clothed in the gentle effulgence of the great lamp of the night. Here is the mighty bowman Pandu, now united again with Kunti and Madri. Your father comes often to me on his excellent car. Behold the royal Bhishma, the son of Santanu, now in the midst of the Vasus. Know that this one at the side of Brihaspati is your preceptor Drona. These and other kings, son of Pandu, who warred on your side now walk with the Gandharvas or the Yakshas or other sacred beings. Some have reached the status of Guhyakas. Having cast off their bodies, they have conquered heaven by the merit they gathered through word, thought, and deed.
A key to reading this (lineage and secret): Here Indra reveals the true identities of the dwellers in the divine world. Draupadi is in truth Lakshmi, the goddess Sri, born for the Pandavas from Drupada’s sacrificial altar, ayonija, that is, not from any mother’s womb. Draupadi’s five sons were Gandharvas in origin. Indra plainly calls Karna the eldest brother of Yudhishthira, so that the most piercing secret of the story is at last acknowledged in the divine world.
The gist: In the divine world Yudhishthira saw Krishna in his Brahma-form, Arjuna in attendance on him, and Karna blazing like twelve suns. Bhima was among the Maruts, Nakula and Sahadeva in the place of the Ashvinis, and Draupadi appeared in the form of Sri. Indra told him the divine identity of each, declaring Karna the eldest brother of Yudhishthira, and named where the heroes of every side had gone.
Janamejaya’s question, and the final destiny of all
Janamejaya asked, Bhishma and Drona, those two high-souled men, and king Dhritarashtra, and Virata and Drupada, and Sankha and Uttara, Dhrishtaketu and Jayatsena and king Satyajit, the sons of Duryodhana, and Shakuni the son of Subala, the sons of Karna of great prowess, king Jayadratha, Ghatotkaca, and the other heroic kings of blazing form whom you have not named, for how long did they remain in heaven? Was theirs an eternal place in heaven? When their acts came to an end, what end did those foremost of men reach? This I desire to hear.
Thus questioned, said Sauti, the regenerate rishi, receiving the leave of the high-souled Vyasa, set himself to answer the king’s question. Not everyone, king of men, said Vaishampayana, is able to return to his own nature at the end of his deeds. Whether this is so or not, you have indeed asked a good question. Hear now, king, this mystery of the gods, which was explained to us by Vyasa of mighty energy, of celestial vision and great prowess, that ancient ascetic, the son of Parasara, who keeps ever to high vows, whose understanding is beyond measure, who is omniscient, and who therefore knows the end attached to every act.
Bhishma, of mighty energy and great effulgence, attained to the status of the Vasus, said Vaishampayana. Eight Vasus are now seen. Drona entered into Brihaspati, that foremost one of the descendants of Angiras. Kritavarma, the son of Hridika, entered the Maruts. Pradyumna entered Sanatkumara, from whom he had issued. Dhritarashtra obtained the regions of the Lord of treasures, so hard to acquire, and the famous Gandhari obtained the same regions with her husband Dhritarashtra. With his two wives, Pandu proceeded to the abode of the great Indra.
Both Virata and Drupada, and king Dhrishtaketu, as also Nishatha, Akrura, Samba, Bhanukampa, Viduratha, Bhurishrava, Sala, king Bhuri, Kansa, Ugrasena, Vasudeva, and Uttara, that foremost of men, with his brother Sankha, all these foremost of persons entered the deities, Vaishampayana went on. Soma’s son of great prowess, named Varchas of mighty energy, had become Abhimanyu, the son of Phalguna, that lion among men. Having fought, in the way of the Kshatriyas, with a bravery such as none other had ever been able to show, that mighty-armed and righteous being entered Soma. Karna, slain on the field of battle, entered Surya. Shakuni obtained absorption into Dwapara, and Dhrishtadyumna into the deity of fire.
The sons of Dhritarashtra were all Rakshasas of fierce might, said Vaishampayana. Sanctified by death at the hands of weapons, those high-souled beings of prosperity all succeeded in attaining to heaven. Both Kshattri, that is Vidura, and king Yudhishthira entered into the god of Righteousness. The holy and illustrious Ananta, who had taken birth as Balarama, proceeded to the region below the earth, where, by the command of the Grandsire and the strength of his yoga, he supports the earth. Vasudeva was a portion of that eternal god of gods called Narayana, and so he entered into Narayana.
Sixteen thousand women had been married to Vasudeva as his wives, Vaishampayana went on. When the time came, Janamejaya, they plunged into the Sarasvati. Casting off their human bodies there, they re-ascended to heaven, and, transformed into Apsaras, they approached the presence of Vasudeva. Those heroic and mighty car-warriors, Ghatotkaca and the rest, who were slain in the great battle, attained to the status, some of gods, some of Yakshas. Those who had fought on the side of Duryodhana are said to have been Rakshasas, and gradually, king, they too attained to excellent regions of felicity, some to the abode of Indra, some to that of Kuvera of great wisdom, some to that of Varuna. I have now told you everything, you of great splendor, about the acts of both the Kurus and the Pandavas, and the end each reached.
A key to reading this (the idea): Here the story opens its principle: the figures of the Mahabharata were in truth partial incarnations of gods and other divine beings, who returned to their original source once their work was done. This is the heart of the closing, that the gods came to Earth for their play and, the task finished, climbed back to heaven. Note that even the Rakshasa portions on Duryodhana’s side, meeting death by weapons, come at last to excellent worlds, which confirms the same rule of an enmity-free heaven that Narada stated at the beginning.
The gist: At Janamejaya’s asking, Vaishampayana told the final destiny of each from the secret Vyasa had given him. Bhishma merged into the Vasus, Drona into Brihaspati, Karna into Surya, Abhimanyu into Soma, Vidura and Yudhishthira into Dharma, Balarama as Shesha the serpent beneath the earth, and Vasudeva into Narayana. Every figure returned to his divine source, settling that the gods, their play on Earth finished, had gone back to heaven.
The close of the tale, and the glory of the Mahabharata
Hearing this, said Sauti, in the intervals of the sacrificial rites, king Janamejaya became filled with wonder. The priests then finished the rites that still remained to be gone through. Astika, who had rescued the snakes from death by fire, was filled with joy. King Janamejaya gratified all the brahmanas with copious gifts, and, so worshipped by the king, they returned to their own homes. Having dismissed those learned brahmanas, king Janamejaya came back from Takshasila to the city named after the elephant.
I have now told everything that Vaishampayana narrated, at the command of Vyasa, to the king at his snake sacrifice, said Sauti. Called a history, it is sacred, sanctifying, and excellent. It was composed by the ascetic Krishna, truthful in speech, omniscient, conversant with every ordinance, possessed of a knowledge of all duties, endued with piety, able to perceive what lies beyond the reach of the senses, pure, his soul cleansed by penances, possessed of the six high attributes, and devoted to Sankhya and Yoga. He composed it, beholding everything with a celestial eye that had been cleansed by varied learning, desiring to spread through the world the fame of the high-souled Pandavas, and of other Kshatriyas possessed of abundant energy.
The learned man who recites this history of sacred days in the midst of a listening company becomes cleansed of every sin, conquers heaven, and attains to the status of Brahma, said Sauti. From the man who listens with rapt attention to the whole of this Veda composed by the Island-born Krishna, a million sins, numbering such grave ones as the killing of a brahmana, are washed off. The ancestors of the man who recites even a small portion of this history at a shraddha obtain food and drink that never fail. The sins one commits during the day, by the senses or the mind, are all washed off before evening by reciting a portion of the Mahabharata.
The high race of the Bharatas is its topic, and for that it is called Bharata, said Sauti. And because of its grave import, as well as of the Bharatas being its topic, it is called Mahabharata. Whoever is versed in the interpretation of this great treatise becomes cleansed of every sin. Such a man lives in righteousness, in wealth, and in pleasure, and attains to moksha, release, as well, foremost of the Bharatas. That which occurs here occurs elsewhere. That which does not occur here occurs nowhere. This history is known by the name of Jaya, and it should be heard by every one who longs for release.
The Island-born Krishna, who will not have to come back and who is release incarnate, made this essence of the Bharata out of his desire to aid the cause of righteousness, said Sauti. He made another compilation consisting of six million verses. Of these, three million were placed in the region of the gods, one and a half million in the region of the ancestors, one million four hundred thousand among the Yakshas, and one hundred thousand among human beings. Narada recited the Mahabharata to the gods, Asita-Devala to the ancestors, Suka to the Rakshasas and the Yakshas, and Vaishampayana to human beings.
All the sins committed by body, by word, and by mind are destroyed by the hearing of the Mahabharata, as darkness is destroyed at sunrise, said Sauti at the last. In the Vedas, in the Ramayana, and in the sacred Bharata, foremost of the Bharatas, Hari is sung in the beginning, in the middle, and at the end. The man who listens with devotion to this history from the beginning becomes cleansed of every sin, though he be the killer of a brahmana, or one who has violated his preceptor’s bed, or a drinker of alcohol, or a robber of other people’s wares, or one born in the order of the Chandalas. Destroying all his sins like the maker of day destroying darkness, such a man, without doubt, sports in felicity in the region of Vishnu, like Vishnu himself. Here the Svargarohana Parva comes to its close, and with it the eighteen books of the Mahabharata are complete.
A key to reading this (the number in modern terms): Sauti says here that Vyasa composed a collection of six million verses, of which only one hundred thousand came into circulation in the world of humans. Those hundred thousand verses are the Mahabharata we have, called the Shatasahasri Samhita, the collection of a hundred thousand. The rest are said to circulate in the worlds of the gods, the ancestors, and the Yakshas, which is to say beyond human reach.
The gist: The tale returns to the close of the snake-sacrifice and Janamejaya’s return to Hastinapura. Sauti tells the glory of the Mahabharata: this history called Jaya, composed by Vyasa, is the equal of the Vedas, carries one to moksha, and whatever is in it is everywhere, while whatever is not in it is nowhere. On this note the Svargarohana Parva, and all eighteen books of the Mahabharata, come to their close.
Source: the Mahabharata of Krishna-Dvaipayana Vyasa, Svargarohana Parva; Gita Press Gorakhpur tradition.
Source: the Mahabharata of Vyasa (Gita Press, Gorakhpur)