Shloka 25
Adhyāya 3: Indra’s Invitation and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Refusal to Abandon the Dog
Svargārohaṇa Test
स तं रथं समास्थाय राजा कुरुकुलोदवह: । ऊर्ध्वमाचक्रमे शीघ्रं तेजसा55वृत्य रोदसी,कुरुकुलतिलक राजा युधिष्ठिर उस रथमें बैठकर अपने तेजसे पृथ्वी और आकाशको व्याप्त करते हुए तीव्र गतिसे ऊपरकी ओर जाने लगे
sa taṁ rathaṁ samāsthāya rājā kurukulodvahaḥ | ūrdhvam ācakrame śīghraṁ tejasāvṛtya rodasī ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Mounting that chariot, King Yudhiṣṭhira—the foremost bearer of the Kuru line—began to ascend swiftly. By the radiance of his own spiritual merit and kingly splendor, he seemed to pervade both earth and sky, signaling the culmination of a life lived in dharma and the transition from worldly sovereignty to the final journey beyond it.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the fruition of dharma: a ruler who has upheld righteousness and relinquished attachment is portrayed as rising beyond the human sphere, his 'tejas' symbolizing moral-spiritual authority that transcends worldly power.
Yudhiṣṭhira mounts a chariot and begins a swift upward ascent, his radiance filling earth and sky—an epic sign that his final passage is underway and that his life’s dharmic stature is being affirmed in a cosmic register.