Shloka 12
Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 2 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry for His Kin and the Vision of a Punitive Realm
कि मे भ्रातृविहीनस्य स्वर्गेण सुरसत्तमा: । यत्र ते मम स स्वर्गो नायं स्वर्गो मतो मम,सुरश्रेष्रणण! अपने भाइयोंसे अलग रहकर इस स्वर्गसे भी मुझे क्या लेना है? जहाँ मेरे भाई हैं वहीं मेरा स्वर्ग है। उनके बिना मैं इस लोकको स्वर्ग नहीं मानता
ki me bhrātṛ-vihīnasya svargeṇa sura-sattamāḥ | yatra te mama sa svargo nāyaṃ svargo mato mama, sura-śreṣṭhaṇa ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “O best of the gods, what use is this heaven to me if I must be without my brothers? Wherever they are, that alone is heaven for me. Without them, I do not regard this realm as heaven.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Heaven is not merely a place of pleasure or reward; for a dharmic person, true ‘svarga’ is inseparable from righteousness, love, and loyalty. Yudhiṣṭhira rejects personal bliss if it requires abandoning those bound to him by duty and affection.
In the Svargārohaṇa episode, Yudhiṣṭhira is shown the heavenly realm but finds himself separated from his brothers. Addressing the gods, he declares that such a heaven is meaningless to him; he values being with his brothers over enjoying celestial reward alone.