Shloka 3
Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 2 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry for His Kin and the Vision of a Punitive Realm
क्व ते महारथा: सर्वे शार्ट्लसमविक्रमा: । तैरप्ययं जितो लोक: कच्चित् पुरुषसत्तमै:,जिन महारथियोंने समराग्निमें अपने शरीरोंकी आहुति दे दी, जो राजा और राजकुमार रणभूमिमें मेरे लिये मारे गये वे सिंहके समान पराक्रमी समस्त महारथी वीर कहाँ हैं? क्या उन पुरुषप्रवर वीरोंने भी इस स्वर्गलोकपर विजय पायी है?
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
kva te mahārathāḥ sarve śārḍūlasamavikramāḥ |
tair apy ayaṃ jito lokaḥ kaccit puruṣasattamaiḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Where are all those great chariot-warriors now, whose valor was like that of tigers? Have those best of men—who offered their bodies into the fire of battle—also conquered this heavenly world?”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames heaven as something ‘won’ through merit and heroic sacrifice, while also highlighting Yudhiṣṭhira’s ethical concern: true honor is not merely victory in war, but the rightful fruition of deeds (karma-phala) for those who gave their lives.
Having reached the threshold of heaven in the Svargārohaṇa episode, Yudhiṣṭhira anxiously asks where the great warriors are—those who died in the battle—and whether they too have attained this heavenly realm.