Shloka 47
Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 2 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry for His Kin and the Vision of a Punitive Realm
“वह तो यहाँ अत्यन्त सम्मानित होकर महेन्द्रके समान राजलक्ष्मीसे सम्पन्न हुआ है। इधर यह किस कर्मका फल है कि मेरे सगे-सम्बन्धी नरकमें पड़े हुए हैं? ।।
sa tu iha atyanta-sammānito mahendra-samaḥ rāja-lakṣmyā sampannaḥ | iha ca idaṃ kasya karmaṇaḥ phalaṃ yat mama saga-sambandhino narake patitāḥ || sarva-dharma-vidaḥ śūrāḥ satyāgama-parāyaṇāḥ | kṣatra-dharma-ratāḥ santaḥ yajvāno bhūri-dakṣiṇāḥ ||
而他却在此备受尊崇，享有如帝释天（因陀罗）般的王者福运。可这究竟是何业之果，竟使我至亲的宗族堕入地狱？我的兄弟们通达一切法（dharma），英勇无畏，言行真实，并恪守与圣典相应的行持。他们坚住刹帝利之职分，举行宏大的祭祀，广施丰厚的布施；然而为何仍遭此等厄运？
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the tension between visible merit (valor, truthfulness, sacrifices, generosity) and unseen karmic consequence. It raises the ethical problem of how outcomes in the afterlife may reflect subtle or prior causes beyond outwardly righteous conduct, prompting inquiry into the complexity of karma and dharma.
A speaker observes that one person is honored and prosperous like Indra, while the speaker’s own close relatives have fallen into hell. The speaker protests that these kinsmen were exemplary kṣatriyas—brave, truthful, scripturally aligned, and generous sacrificers—and asks why they have met such a grim destiny.