Shloka 46
Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 2 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry for His Kin and the Vision of a Punitive Realm
महेन्द्र इव लक्ष्मीवानास्ते परमपूजिता: । कस्येदानीं विकारो5यं य इमे नरकं॑ गता:
mahendra iva lakṣmīvān āste paramapūjitāḥ | kasyedānīṃ vikāro 'yaṃ ya ime narakaṃ gatāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “He sits in splendor like Mahendra (Indra), honored above all. Whose change of heart is this now—when these very men have gone to hell?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral tension between outward honor and inner ethical consequence: someone is exalted and revered like Indra, yet the speaker questions a sudden emotional or moral ‘change’ in the face of others’ descent to hell—implying that true judgment must consider karma and dharma, not merely status or splendor.
In the Svargārohaṇa context, the narration contrasts heavenly honor with the shocking sight or knowledge of certain persons having gone to naraka. Vaiśampāyana frames this as a perplexing ‘vikāra’ (disturbance/change of mind), underscoring the unsettling reversals encountered in the final ascent and reckoning.