Shloka 22
Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 5 — Karmaphala-Nirdeśa and Phalāśruti (कर्मफलनिर्देशः फलश्रुतिश्च)
धर्ममेवाविशत् क्षत्ता राजा चैव युधिषछिर:,विदुर और राजा युधिष्ठिरने धर्मके ही स्वरूपमें प्रवेश किया। बलरामजी साक्षात् भगवान् अनन्तदेवके अवतार थे। वे रसातलमें अपने स्थानको चले गये। ये वे ही अनन्तदेव हैं जिन्होंने ब्रहद्माजीकी आज्ञा पाकर योगबलसे इस पृथ्वीकों धारण कर रखा है
vaiśampāyana uvāca | dharmam evāviśat kṣattā rājā caiva yudhiṣṭhiraḥ | balarāmo hi sākṣād bhagavān anantadevasya avatāraḥ | sa rasātalaṃ svam ālayaṃ jagāma | eṣa sa evānantadevo yo brahmaṇo ’jñāṃ prāpya yogabalena imāṃ pṛthivīṃ dhārayāmāsa |
Vaiśampāyana said: Vidura, the royal attendant, entered into Dharma itself, and King Yudhiṣṭhira also entered into Dharma’s very being. Balarāma was in truth an incarnation of the Lord Anantadeva; he departed to his own abode in Rasātala. This is that same Ananta who, having received Brahmā’s command, upholds the earth by the power of yoga.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames the end of exemplary lives as a return to their governing principle: Vidura and Yudhiṣṭhira are portrayed as merging into Dharma itself, suggesting that steadfast ethical integrity culminates in union with the very source of righteousness and cosmic order.
In the closing movement of the epic, Vaiśampāyana reports the final departures: Vidura (identified with Dharma) and Yudhiṣṭhira enter into Dharma, while Balarāma—declared an incarnation of Ananta—returns to Rasātala, recalling Ananta’s cosmic role of supporting the earth under Brahmā’s command.