Shloka 17
स्वर्गारोहणपर्व — तृतीयोऽध्यायः
Indra and Dharma’s Consolation; Celestial Gaṅgā Purification
आगच्छ नरशार्दूल मुक्तास्ते चैव कल्मषात्
āgaccha naraśārdūla muktās te caiva kalmaṣāt | puruṣasiṃha āgaccha te sarve pāpāt pramuktāḥ | bharataśreṣṭha tava pakṣasya ye ye rājāno yuddhe hatās te sarve svargalokaṃ prāptāḥ | cala teṣāṃ darśanaṃ kuru ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana sprach: „Komm, Tiger unter den Menschen. Sie sind wahrlich von aller Befleckung befreit. O Löwe unter den Menschen, komm—jene Könige, die in der Schlacht auf deiner Seite fielen, sind alle in die Himmelswelt gelangt, von Sünde gelöst. Komm nun und schaue sie an.“
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames death in righteous battle as leading to purification and a heavenly attainment, emphasizing the epic idea that one’s end-state is shaped by dharma and the moral quality of one’s action, not merely by the fact of violence.
Vaiśaṃpāyana urges the addressed hero (praised as ‘tiger/lion among men’ and ‘best of the Bharatas’) to come and see the kings from his side who were slain in the war; they are described as freed from sin and already arrived in Svargaloka.