Shloka 22
Adhyāya 3: Indra’s Invitation and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Refusal to Abandon the Dog
Svargārohaṇa Test
इस समय भी “यह कुत्ता मेरा भक्त है” ऐसा सोचकर तुमने देवराज इन्द्रके भी रथका परित्याग कर दिया है; अतः स्वर्गलोकमें तुम्हारे समान दूसरा कोई राजा नहीं है ।। अतस्तवाक्षया लोका: स्वशरीरेण भारत । प्राप्तोडसि भरतश्रेष्ठ दिव्यां गतिमनुत्तमाम्,भारत! भरतश्रेष्ठ! यही कारण है कि तुम्हें अपने इसी शरीरसे अक्षय लोकोंकी प्राप्ति हुई है। तुम परम उत्तम दिव्य गतिको पा गये हो
dharmarāja uvāca | adya api “ayaṁ śvā mama bhaktaḥ” iti matvā tvaṁ devarāja-indrasya api rathasya parityāgaṁ kṛtavān; ataḥ svargaloke tvat-samaḥ anyaḥ kaścid rājā nāsti || atas tava akṣayā lokāḥ sva-śarīreṇa bhārata | prāpto ’si bharata-śreṣṭha divyāṁ gatim anuttamām ||
Dharmarāja said: Even now, thinking, “This dog is my devotee,” you have renounced even the chariot of Indra, the king of the gods. Therefore, in heaven there is no other king equal to you. Hence, O Bhārata, O best of the Bharatas, you have attained imperishable worlds with this very body; you have reached the unsurpassed, divine state.
धर्मरज उवाच
Educational Q&A
Uncompromising dharma: true righteousness protects the vulnerable and honors loyalty even when tempted by divine reward. Yudhiṣṭhira’s refusal to abandon the dog becomes the very reason he attains imperishable realms in the same body.
At the end of the great journey, Indra offers Yudhiṣṭhira a chariot to enter heaven but objects to the dog accompanying him. Yudhiṣṭhira rejects the offer rather than abandon the dog, and Dharmarāja (here speaking) declares that this act proves his unmatched virtue and grants him an unsurpassed divine destination.