Mahabharata — Svargarohana Parva, Shloka 20
Svargārohaṇa-parva, Adhyāya 4 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Vision of the Celestial Assembly
Recognition and Explanation
एष पाण्डु्महेष्वास: कुन्त्या माद्रया च संगत: । विमानेन सदाभ्येति पिता तव ममान्तिकम्
eṣa pāṇḍur maheṣvāsaḥ kuntyā mādrayā ca saṅgataḥ | vimānena sadābhyeti pitā tava mamāntikam ||
Sinabi ni Vaiśaṃpāyana: “Ito si Pāṇḍu, dakilang mamamana, na kasama sina Kuntī at Mādrī. Ang iyong ama na si Pāṇḍu ay dumarating dito sa akin nang paulit-ulit, sakay ng karwaheng makalangit.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores continuity of familial and moral identity beyond death: the righteous and renowned (here, Pāṇḍu as a ‘great archer’) are depicted as moving in a higher realm, suggesting that one’s stature and relationships are not erased but are recontextualized in the afterlife narrative of the epic.
Vaiśaṃpāyana identifies Pāṇḍu—accompanied by his wives Kuntī and Mādrī—and states that he regularly approaches in a vimāna (celestial chariot), indicating Pāṇḍu’s presence and movement in the heavenly setting described in Svargārohaṇa.