Shloka 37
स्वर्गारोहणपर्व — तृतीयोऽध्यायः
Indra and Dharma’s Consolation; Celestial Gaṅgā Purification
अवश्यं नरकास्तात द्रष्टव्या: सर्वराजभि: । ततस्त्वया प्राप्तमिदं मुहूर्त दुःखमुत्तमम्,“तात! समस्त राजाओंको नरकका दर्शन अवश्य करना पड़ता है; इसलिये तुमने दो घड़ीतक यह महान् दु:ख प्राप्त किया है
avaśyaṃ narakās tāta draṣṭavyāḥ sarvarājabhiḥ | tatas tvayā prāptam idaṃ muhūrta-duḥkham uttamam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Dear child, all kings must inevitably behold the hells. Therefore, you have undergone this supreme anguish only for a brief moment.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even the most righteous rulers are not exempt from confronting the consequences and moral weight of worldly rule; a brief, intense suffering can function as an inevitable reckoning and purification before higher attainment.
The narrator explains that the protagonist’s momentary experience of hell is not an anomaly but a rule that applies to all kings; it is presented as a short-lived yet severe ordeal that must be passed through.