Shloka 22
Uttanka’s Viśvarūpa Request and the ‘Uttanka Clouds’ Boon (उत्तङ्क-विष्वरूप-दर्शनम्)
ते<धर्मेणेह संयुक्ता: परीता: कालधर्मणा । धर्मेण निहता युद्धे गता: स्वर्ग न संशय:,इसके बाद क्रोधमें भरकर मैंने कौरवोंको बड़े-बड़े भय दिखाये और उन्हें बहुत डराया- धमकाया तथा यथार्थरूपसे युद्धका भावी परिणाम भी उन्हें दिखाया; परंतु वे तो अधर्मसे युक्त एवं कालसे ग्रस्त थे। अतः मेरी बात माननेको राजी न हुए। फिर क्षत्रिय-धर्मके अनुसार युद्धमें मारे गये। इसमें संदेह नहीं कि वे सब-के-सब स्वर्गलोकमें गये हैं
te dharmeṇeha saṃyuktāḥ parītāḥ kāladharmaṇā | dharmeṇa nihatā yuddhe gatāḥ svargaṃ na saṃśayaḥ ||
Vāyu said: “Here, they were bound to their (appointed) dharma, yet were also encompassed by the law of Time. Slain in battle in accordance with dharma, they have gone to heaven—of this there is no doubt.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links battlefield death to dharma and to the inevitability of Kāla (Time): even amid moral complexity, those who fall in a dharma-framed war are said to attain svarga, while the larger outcome is also portrayed as time-bound and unavoidable.
Vāyudeva comments on warriors who, though overtaken by the force of Time, were killed in battle in accordance with dharma; he affirms confidently that they have reached heaven.