Shloka 23
Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 5 — Karmaphala-Nirdeśa and Phalāśruti (कर्मफलनिर्देशः फलश्रुतिश्च)
अनन्तो भगवान् देव: प्रविवेश रसातलम् | पितामहनियोगाद् वै यो योगाद् गामधारयत्
ananto bhagavān devaḥ praviveśa rasātalam | pitāmaha-niyogād vai yo yogād gām adhārayat |
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは語った。福徳具えた主、神アナンタはラサータラへと入り、自らの住処へ帰還した。彼こそ、祖父ブラフマーの命により、ヨーガの力をもって大地を支えるアナンタである。（同じ終結の流れの中で、ヴィドゥラとユディシュティラ王もまたダルマそのものへ帰入したと語られ、彼らの最期が単なる肉体の死ではなく、本質原理への回帰として描かれていることが示される。）
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.