Shloka 18
स्त्रीपर्व — नवमोऽध्यायः | Dhṛtarāṣṭra summons the Kuru women; the city departs in collective lamentation
न यज्ञैर्दक्षिणावद्धिर्न तपोभिरनन विद्यया । तथा स्वर्गमुपायान्ति यथा शूरास्तनुत्यज:,“अपने शरीरका त्याग करनेवाले शूरवीर जिस तरह स्वर्गमें जाते हैं, उस तरह दक्षिणावाले यज्ञों, तपस्याओं तथा विद्यासे भी कोई नहीं जा सकता
na yajñair dakṣiṇāvaddhir na tapobhir na vidyayā | tathā svargam upāyānti yathā śūrās tanutyajaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Not by sacrifices endowed with rich priestly fees, nor by austerities, nor by learning do people reach heaven in the same manner as those heroes who renounce their bodies on the battlefield. The verse elevates the moral weight of courageous self-offering in a righteous cause, presenting it as a path to heavenly reward that surpasses even revered religious and intellectual disciplines.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that heroic self-sacrifice—giving up one’s life with valor in a righteous context—is portrayed as an exceptionally potent means of attaining heaven, even more immediately efficacious than meritorious rituals with gifts, austerities, or learning.
In Strī Parva’s lamentation-filled aftermath of the war, Vaiśampāyana articulates a consolatory and evaluative principle: despite the immense grief, the fallen warriors who relinquished their bodies as heroes are said to attain heaven in a way that ordinary religious merits cannot match.