Shloka 20
Svargārohaṇa-parva, Adhyāya 4 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Vision of the Celestial Assembly
Recognition and Explanation
एष पाण्डु्महेष्वास: कुन्त्या माद्रया च संगत: । विमानेन सदाभ्येति पिता तव ममान्तिकम्,'ये महाधनुर्धर राजा पाण्डु हैं जो कुन्ती और माद्री दोनोंके साथ हैं। ये तुम्हारे पिता पाण्डु विमानद्वारा सदा मेरे पास आया करते हैं
eṣa pāṇḍur maheṣvāsaḥ kuntyā mādrayā ca saṅgataḥ | vimānena sadābhyeti pitā tava mamāntikam ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “This is Pāṇḍu, the great archer, accompanied by Kuntī and Mādrī. Your father Pāṇḍu comes to me here again and again, arriving in a celestial chariot.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores continuity of familial and moral identity beyond death: the righteous and renowned (here, Pāṇḍu as a ‘great archer’) are depicted as moving in a higher realm, suggesting that one’s stature and relationships are not erased but are recontextualized in the afterlife narrative of the epic.
Vaiśaṃpāyana identifies Pāṇḍu—accompanied by his wives Kuntī and Mādrī—and states that he regularly approaches in a vimāna (celestial chariot), indicating Pāṇḍu’s presence and movement in the heavenly setting described in Svargārohaṇa.