Shloka 39
स्वर्गारोहणपर्व — तृतीयोऽध्यायः
Indra and Dharma’s Consolation; Celestial Gaṅgā Purification
“नरेश्वर! सव्यसाची अर्जुन, भीमसेन, पुरुषप्रवर नकुल-सहदेव अथवा सत्यवादी शूरवीर कर्ण--इनमेंसे कोई भी चिरकालतक नरकमें रहनेके योग्य नहीं है ।।
vaiśampāyana uvāca: nareśvara! savyasācī arjunaḥ, bhīmasenaḥ, puruṣapravaraḥ nakula-sahadevau athavā satyavādī śūravīraḥ karṇaḥ—eṣāṃ madhye kaścid api cirakālaṃ narake vāsa-yogyo na bhavati. na kṛṣṇā rājaputrī ca narakārhā kathaṃcana. ehi hi bharataśreṣṭha, paśya gaṅgāṃ trilokagām.
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: “O hari! Maging si Arjuna na Savyasācī, si Bhīmasena, ang pinakamararangal na sina Nakula at Sahadeva, o kahit si Karṇa—ang matapang na nagsasabi ng katotohanan—wala ni isa sa kanila ang nararapat manahan sa impiyerno nang matagal. Ni si Kṛṣṇā, ang prinsesa, ay hindi rin karapat-dapat sa impiyerno sa anumang paraan. Halika, O pinakamainam sa angkan ng Bharata; masdan ang Gaṅgā, ang ilog na ang landas ay umaabot sa tatlong daigdig.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when great figures undergo brief post-war moral reckoning, the epic insists on proportional justice: fundamentally dharmic persons (and those with major virtues like truthfulness and heroism) are not destined for prolonged hell. The mention of Gaṅgā signals purification and a transition from punitive vision to restoration and higher passage.
Vaiśampāyana reassures the addressed king (Janamejaya in the frame narrative) that the principal heroes—Arjuna, Bhīma, Nakula, Sahadeva, and Karṇa—and also Kṛṣṇā (Draupadī) are not truly hell-bound for long. He then invites him to behold the Gaṅgā, indicating a shift toward a purifying, world-transcending vision within the Svargarohana (ascent to heaven) sequence.