Shloka 4
दिवि देवा महीपाल क्रीडार्थमवनिं गता: । कृत्वा कार्यमिदं चैव ततश्न दिवमागता:
divi devā mahīpāla krīḍārtham avaniṁ gatāḥ | kṛtvā kāryam idaṁ caiva tataś ca divam āgatāḥ ||
वैशम्पायन उवाच—भूपाल! दिवि देवा भगवतः क्रीडार्थं वसुधामवतीर्य, इदं कार्यं समाप्य, ततः पुनर्दिवं जग्मुः।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames major worldly events as part of a divinely guided purpose: higher beings may enter human history to uphold cosmic order, complete a destined task, and then withdraw. Ethically, it suggests humility before dharma and the limits of human control, while still affirming that actions have a role within a larger moral-cosmic design.
Vaiśaṃpāyana addresses the king and explains that the gods came down from heaven to the earth for a specific purpose—described as a divine ‘sport’—and, once that purpose was fulfilled, they returned to heaven.