Shloka 28
Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 5 — Karmaphala-Nirdeśa and Phalāśruti (कर्मफलनिर्देशः फलश्रुतिश्च)
दुर्योधनसहायाश्न राक्षसा: परिकीर्तिता: । प्राप्तास्ते क्रमशो राजन् सर्वलोकाननुत्तमान्,राजन! जो दुर्योधनके सहायक थे, वे सब-के-सब राक्षस बताये गये हैं। उन्हें क्रमशः सभी उत्तम लोकोंकी प्राप्ति हुई
Vaiśampāyana uvāca: duryodhana-sahāyāś ca rākṣasāḥ parikīrtitāḥ | prāptās te kramaśo rājan sarva-lokān anuttamān ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O King, those beings who had served as Duryodhana’s allies are described as Rākṣasas. Yet, in due order, they attained all the unsurpassed worlds.” The verse underscores a key Mahābhārata ethic: the cosmic outcome of beings is not judged solely by their battlefield alignment, but by the deeper ledger of their nature, destiny, and the moral order that distributes results according to hidden causes.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that posthumous destinations (lokas) follow a deeper karmic and cosmic accounting; even those aligned with an adharmic leader may, by their own nature and prior causes, attain excellent realms in due order.
Vaiśampāyana informs the king that Duryodhana’s supporting beings are identified as Rākṣasas, and that they subsequently attain, step by step, various unsurpassed worlds—an afterlife distribution following the war’s conclusion.