Shloka 20
स्वर्गे दुर्योधनदर्शनम् | Duryodhana Seen in Heaven
Triviṣṭapa
यदि दुर्योधनस्यैते वीरलोका: सनातना: । अधर्मज्ञस्थ पापस्य पृथिवीसुद्ददां द्रुह:
vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca | yadi duryodhanasyāite vīralokāḥ sanātanāḥ | adharmajñasya pāpasya pṛthivī-suddaḍāṃ druhaḥ |
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは言った。「もし英雄のために定められたこの永遠の世界が、ドゥルヨーダナ—罪深く、ダルマの名すら知らず、背信によって馬・象・人をも含む大地を滅びへ導いた者—に与えられたというのなら、いま我が兄弟たち、すなわち勇猛にして大いなる魂を備え、大誓願を守り、真実の誓いを立て、世に名高い武人であり、真実を語る者たちは、いかなる世界に至ったのか。私は彼らに会いたい。さらに、真実に堅く立つクンティーの子、偉大なるカルナにも会いたい。」
वैशग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds a moral paradox central to the Mahābhārata: heavenly reward can follow outwardly ‘heroic’ conduct (kṣatriya valor, battlefield death) even when a person is ethically compromised. It challenges simplistic equations of victory, reputation, or even heavenly attainment with true dharma, pushing the listener to reflect on layered causality (karma), role-based duty, and the limits of human moral judgment.
In Svargārohaṇa, after reaching the other world, Yudhiṣṭhira (speaking through Vaiśaṃpāyana’s narration) is disturbed to learn that Duryodhana has attained heroic realms. He contrasts Duryodhana’s betrayal and earth-destroying war with the virtues of his own brothers and expresses a desire to see them—and also to meet Karṇa, Kuntī’s son—seeking clarity about their posthumous destinies.