Shloka 23
Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 5 — Karmaphala-Nirdeśa and Phalāśruti (कर्मफलनिर्देशः फलश्रुतिश्च)
अनन्तो भगवान् देव: प्रविवेश रसातलम् | पितामहनियोगाद् वै यो योगाद् गामधारयत्,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
ananto bhagavān devaḥ praviveśa rasātalam | pitāmaha-niyogād vai yo yogād gām adhārayat |
Vaiśampāyana said: The blessed Lord, the god Ananta, entered Rasātala—returning to his own abode. He is the very Ananta who, by the command of the Grandsire (Brahmā), upholds the earth through the power of yoga. (In this same closing movement of the narrative, Vidura and King Yudhiṣṭhira are described as entering into Dharma itself, underscoring that the end of their lives is framed as a return to their essential principle rather than a merely physical departure.)
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames the end of heroic lives as a restoration of cosmic order: divine beings return to their proper realms, and righteousness (dharma) is treated as an ontological reality into which the righteous can merge. It emphasizes that the world is sustained by divine support (Ananta) operating under cosmic governance (Brahmā’s command) and spiritual power (yoga).
In the concluding events of the Mahābhārata, Ananta—identified in the surrounding narration with Balarāma’s divine nature—withdraws from the human scene and enters Rasātala, his own domain. The text recalls his cosmic role of upholding the earth by yogic power under Brahmā’s directive, while nearby narration also notes Vidura and Yudhiṣṭhira entering into Dharma.