Shloka 17
Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 5 — Karmaphala-Nirdeśa and Phalāśruti (कर्मफलनिर्देशः फलश्रुतिश्च)
कंसश्रैवोग्रसेनश्व वसुदेवस्तथैव च । उत्तरश्न सह भ्रात्रा शड़्खेन नरपुड्भवः
kaṁsaś caivogrāsenaś ca vasudevas tathaiva ca | uttaraś ca saha bhrātrā śaṅkhena narapuṅgavaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Kāṁsa, and likewise Ugrāsena, and also Vasudeva; and Uttara too—together with his brother Śaṅkha—those foremost among men (were there/are named).” In the Svargārohaṇa narrative, such cataloguing underscores that even the mighty and renowned are gathered under the same law of impermanence, as the epic turns from victory and loss toward the final reckoning of lives and deeds.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
By listing eminent figures as the narrative approaches its close, the text highlights the universality of mortality and consequence: status and power do not exempt anyone from the moral and existential order that governs all beings.
Vaiśampāyana is enumerating notable persons—Kaṁsa, Ugrāsena, Vasudeva, and Uttara with his brother Śaṅkha—within the Svargārohaṇa context, where the epic’s concluding movement gathers names and fates as it transitions toward the final ascent and closure.