Shloka 12
Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 5 — Karmaphala-Nirdeśa and Phalāśruti (कर्मफलनिर्देशः फलश्रुतिश्च)
अष्टावेव हि दृश्यन्ते वसवो भरतर्षभ । बृहस्पतिं विवेशाथ द्रोणो हाज्ञिरसां वरम्,भरतभूषण! यही कारण है कि वसु आठ ही देखे जाते हैं (अन्यथा भीष्मजीको लेकर नौ वसु हो जाते)। आचार्य द्रोणने आंगिरसोंमें श्रेष्ठ बृहस्पतिजीके स्वरूपमें प्रवेश किया
aṣṭāveva hi dṛśyante vasavo bharatarṣabha | bṛhaspatiṃ viveśātha droṇo hāṅgirasāṃ varam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Indeed, only eight Vasus are seen, O bull among the Bharatas. Then Droṇa entered into Bṛhaspati, the foremost of the Aṅgirases.” In the closing movement of the epic, this statement frames the heroes’ departures as a return to their divine sources, underscoring the moral vision that embodied greatness in the world is ultimately transient and resolves back into cosmic order.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes that worldly identities and achievements culminate in a return to their divine or cosmic origins. It reinforces the Mahābhārata’s ethical horizon: human greatness is real yet impermanent, and final meaning is found in alignment with the larger order (dharma and ṛta).
In the Svargārohaṇa sequence, the narrator explains the divine resolution of characters: the Vasus are counted as eight, and Droṇa is said to merge into (or assume) the form of Bṛhaspati, the preceptor of the gods and foremost among the Aṅgirases.