Shloka 31
Adhyāya 3: Indra’s Invitation and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Refusal to Abandon the Dog
Svargārohaṇa Test
शुभं वा यदि वा पापं भ्रातृणां स्थानमद्य मे । तदेव प्राप्तुमिच्छामि लोकानन्यान्न कामये
śubhaṃ vā yadi vā pāpaṃ bhrātṝṇāṃ sthānam adya me | tad eva prāptum icchāmi lokān anyān na kāmaye ||
Whether my brothers’ destination is auspicious or sinful, I wish today to reach that very state. I do not desire any other worlds apart from theirs.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights unwavering solidarity and ethical commitment: the speaker expresses that personal spiritual gain is not sought apart from one’s brothers. Even if their end is judged good or bad, he chooses to share their fate rather than pursue a separate, supposedly superior, destiny.
In the Mahāprasthānika Parva’s account of the Great Departure, the speaker reports a resolve voiced during the final journey: the character refuses alternative heavenly rewards and insists on attaining the same destination as his brothers, whatever its moral quality.