Shloka 46
Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 5 — Karmaphala-Nirdeśa and Phalāśruti (कर्मफलनिर्देशः फलश्रुतिश्च)
अष्टादशपुराणानि धर्मशास्त्राणि सर्वश: । वेदा: साड्रास्तथैकत्र भारतं चैकत: स्थितम्,अठारह पुराणोंके निर्माता और वेदविद्याके महासागर महात्मा व्यास मुनिका यह सिंहनाद सुनो। वे कहते हैं--“अठारह पुराण, सम्पूर्ण धर्मशास्त्र और छहों अंगोंसहित चारों वेद एक ओर तथा केवल महाभारत दूसरी ओर, यह अकेला ही उन सबके बराबर है!
aṣṭādaśa-purāṇāni dharmaśāstrāṇi sarvaśaḥ | vedāḥ sāṅgās tathaikatra bhārataṃ caikataḥ sthitam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “On one side stand the eighteen Purāṇas, all the Dharmaśāstras in their entirety, and the four Vedas together with their auxiliary disciplines; on the other side stands the Mahābhārata alone. Thus placed, the Mahābhārata by itself is equal to all of them.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts the comprehensive authority of the Mahābhārata: it is presented as ethically and doctrinally weighty enough to stand equal to the combined corpus of the Purāṇas, Dharmaśāstras, and the Vedas with their auxiliary disciplines—implying that dharma can be studied in a complete, integrated way through the Mahābhārata.
In Vaiśampāyana’s narration during the Svargārohaṇa section, a traditional proclamation is cited that elevates the Mahābhārata’s status among sacred texts, framing it as a singular compendium of teachings comparable to the major scriptural collections.