Shloka 28
स्वर्गारोहणपर्व — तृतीयोऽध्यायः
Indra and Dharma’s Consolation; Celestial Gaṅgā Purification
“जहाँ राजर्षि मान्धाता, राजा भगीरथ और दुष्यन्तकुमार भरत गये हैं, उन्हीं लोकोंमें तुम भी विहार करोगे ।। एषा देवनदी पुण्या पार्थ त्रैलोक्यपावनी । आकाशगड़् राजेन्द्र तत्राप्लुत्य गमिष्यसि,'पार्थ! ये तीनों लोकोंको पवित्र करनेवाली पुण्यसलिला देवनदी आकाशगड़ा हैं। राजेन्द्र! इनके जलमें गोता लगाकर तुम दिव्य लोकोंमें जा सकोगे
vaiśampāyana uvāca | yatra rājarṣi māndhātā rājā bhagīrathaś ca duṣyanta-kumāro bharataś ca gatāḥ, tān eva lokān tvam api vihariṣyasi || eṣā devanadī puṇyā pārtha trailokya-pāvanī | ākāśa-gaṅgā rājendra tatrāplutya gamiṣyasi ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “You too shall roam in those very worlds where the royal sage Māndhātā, King Bhagīratha, and Bharata, the son of Duṣyanta, have gone. This sacred river of the gods, O Pārtha, purifies the three worlds—she is the heavenly Gaṅgā. O king, by plunging into her waters you will depart to the divine realms.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage links righteous legacy with spiritual attainment: the same exalted realms reached by exemplary kings are accessible through purity and divine grace, symbolized by bathing in the celestial Gaṅgā, a purifier of all worlds.
Vaiśampāyana describes Arjuna’s impending transition to divine worlds, assuring him that he will enjoy the realms attained by famed royal exemplars, and that immersion in the heavenly Gaṅgā serves as the purificatory passage enabling that ascent.