Shloka 14
Adhyāya 3: Indra’s Invitation and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Refusal to Abandon the Dog
Svargārohaṇa Test
त्यक्त्वा भ्रातृन् दयितां चापि कृष्णां प्राप्तो लोक: कर्मणा स्वेन वीर | श्वानं चैनं न त्यजसे कथं नु त्यागं कृत्स्नं चास्थितो मुहा[से5द्य,वीर! तुमने अपने भाइयों तथा प्यारी पत्नी द्रौपदीका परित्याग करके अपने किये हुए पुण्यकर्मोंके फलस्वरूप देवलोकको प्राप्त किया है। फिर तुम इस कुत्तेको क्यों नहीं त्याग देते? सब कुछ छोड़कर अब कुत्तेके मोहमें कैसे पड़ गये
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | tyaktvā bhrātṝn dayitāṃ cāpi kṛṣṇāṃ prāpto lokaḥ karmaṇā svena vīra | śvānaṃ cainaṃ na tyajase kathaṃ nu tyāgaṃ kṛtsnaṃ cāsthito mūḍhaḥ ||
Indra said: “O hero, having abandoned your brothers and even your beloved Kṛṣṇā (Draupadī), you have attained the heavenly world by the merit of your own deeds. Why, then, do you not abandon this dog? How is it that, after taking up complete renunciation, you have now fallen into delusion—clinging to a dog?”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a moral tension between formal renunciation and compassionate fidelity. It questions whether ‘complete abandonment’ can coexist with attachment to a vulnerable being, setting up the ethical test: true dharma is not mere detachment but steadfast righteousness and protection of the dependent.
At the end of the great journey (mahāprasthāna), Yudhiṣṭhira reaches the threshold of heaven with a dog that has followed him. A divine voice challenges him to enter without the dog, and Yudhiṣṭhira responds by refusing to abandon it. This verse voices the challenge: since he has already left behind brothers and Draupadī, why not leave the dog too?