Shloka 36
Lokapāla-samāgamaḥ—Arjuna Receives Astras from the World-Guardians
Book 3, Chapter 42
तपसा च जित स्वर्ग सम्पेतु: शतसड्घश: । गन्धर्वाणां सहस्राणि सूर्यज्वलिततेजसाम्,सैकड़ों झुंड-के-झुंड तपस्वी पुरुष स्वर्गमें जा रहे थे, जिन्होंने तपस्याद्वारा उसपर विजय पायी थी। सूर्यके समान प्रकाशमान सहस्रों गन्धर्वों, गुह्कों, ऋषियों तथा अप्सराओंके समूहोंको और उनके स्वतः प्रकाशित होनेवाले लोकोंको देखकर अर्जुनको बड़ा आश्चर्य होता था
tapasā ca jita-svargaṃ sampetuḥ śataśaḥ gaṇaśaḥ | gandharvāṇāṃ sahasrāṇi sūrya-jvalita-tejasām |
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “In hundreds and in clustered multitudes, ascetics were departing for heaven—having won it by the power of their austerities. And there were thousands of Gandharvas, their splendor blazing like the sun.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents tapas (disciplined austerity) as a force that can ‘win’ svarga, implying that spiritual self-control and sustained effort generate merit and elevate one’s destiny within the moral cosmos.
The narrator describes a celestial scene: large companies of ascetics are seen ascending to heaven, and thousands of radiant Gandharvas appear with sun-like brilliance, intensifying the sense of awe surrounding Arjuna’s encounter with higher worlds.