Shloka 22
Adhyāya 3: Indra’s Invitation and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Refusal to Abandon the Dog
Svargārohaṇa Test
इस समय भी “यह कुत्ता मेरा भक्त है” ऐसा सोचकर तुमने देवराज इन्द्रके भी रथका परित्याग कर दिया है; अतः स्वर्गलोकमें तुम्हारे समान दूसरा कोई राजा नहीं है ।।
dharmarāja uvāca | adya api “ayaṁ śvā mama bhaktaḥ” iti matvā tvaṁ devarāja-indrasya api rathasya parityāgaṁ kṛtavān; ataḥ svargaloke tvat-samaḥ anyaḥ kaścid rājā nāsti || atas tava akṣayā lokāḥ sva-śarīreṇa bhārata | prāpto ’si bharata-śreṣṭha divyāṁ gatim anuttamām ||
ダルマラージャは言った。「今なお『この犬は我が信徒である』と思い、汝は神々の王インドラの車さえも捨てた。ゆえに天において、汝に等しい王は他にいない。かくして、バラタよ、バラタ族の最勝者よ、汝はこの身のまま不滅の世界を得、比類なき神聖の境地に到ったのだ。」
धर्मरज उवाच
Educational Q&A
Uncompromising dharma: true righteousness protects the vulnerable and honors loyalty even when tempted by divine reward. Yudhiṣṭhira’s refusal to abandon the dog becomes the very reason he attains imperishable realms in the same body.
At the end of the great journey, Indra offers Yudhiṣṭhira a chariot to enter heaven but objects to the dog accompanying him. Yudhiṣṭhira rejects the offer rather than abandon the dog, and Dharmarāja (here speaking) declares that this act proves his unmatched virtue and grants him an unsurpassed divine destination.