Mahabharata — Svargarohana Parva, 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 |
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: Ang mapalad na Panginoon, si Ananta, ay pumasok sa Rasātala—bumalik sa sarili niyang tahanan. Siya ring Ananta na, sa utos ng Matandang Ama (Brahmā), ay nagtatangan sa daigdig sa pamamagitan ng lakas ng yoga. (Sa kaparehong pagwawakas ng salaysay, sina Vidura at Haring Yudhiṣṭhira ay inilalarawan ding pumapasok sa mismong Dharma, na nagpapatingkad na ang kanilang wakas ay pagbabalik sa sariling prinsipyo, hindi lamang pagpanaw ng katawan.)
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.