Swargarohana Parva

Yudhishthira, mounting that divine chariot of Indra's with this physical body of his, finally entered heaven, where he was given an exceedingly grand welcome by the gods and many divine sages.

That sight of heaven was filled with immense beauty, divine light, and otherworldly peace, and Yudhishthira, seeing this extraordinary setting, began experiencing, for a moment, profound wonder and joy.

But in this very heaven, Yudhishthira, with exceeding astonishment, also saw Duryodhana, seated in an exceedingly radiant, divine form, among the other heroic warriors — this sight proved exceedingly unsettling and troubling to him.

Yudhishthira, seeing this sight, was exceedingly disturbed, and asked the gods how Duryodhana, who had committed such terrible unrighteousness and countless sins, could be seated in this manner in heaven with such honor.

The gods explained to Yudhishthira that Duryodhana, as a Kshatriya, had given up his life valiantly on the battlefield, and that according to Kshatriya dharma, warriors who attain a hero's death receive proper honor in heaven, beyond their personal sins.

Yudhishthira, seeing Duryodhana in heaven in this manner, and finding his own brothers — Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, Sahadeva — and his wife Draupadi nowhere in this heaven, was filled with profound distress and grief.

Yudhishthira, in an exceedingly distressed voice, asked the gods where those brothers of his and his wife, who had observed dharma, sacrifice, and devotion throughout their entire lives, were, and why they were not to be seen here.

Yudhishthira made this clear declaration, that if his brothers and his wife were not present in this heaven, then he himself too would not accept any comfort or honor of this heaven, and that he wished to go to wherever they were.

The gods informed Yudhishthira that his brothers and Draupadi were, for the present, in the realm of hell, and that it was unavoidable for them too to remain there for some time as a consequence of some of their remaining deeds; hearing this, Yudhishthira's heart filled with profound anguish.

Yudhishthira, without a moment's delay, made this firm declaration, that he too wished to go, along with his brothers and wife, to the realm of hell itself, even if it meant giving up all the comfort and honor of this heaven.

The gods and Indra, seeing this unwavering, firm resolve of Yudhishthira's, granted him permission to go toward the realm of hell, and Yudhishthira, with exceedingly firm resolve, advanced along that dark, dreadful path.

That path of the realm of hell was exceedingly terrible, foul-smelling, and tragic, in which, on all sides, the poignant cries of countless beings and the sounds of unbearable suffering echoed — this was a sight to melt any heart.

Along this very dark path, Yudhishthira suddenly heard the exceedingly poignant, anguished cries of his brothers — Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, Sahadeva — and his wife Draupadi, who were calling out to him for help.

Yudhishthira, hearing this unbearable suffering of these loved ones of his, overwhelmed by profound grief and compassion, made this firm declaration, that he would now never return to heaven, and that he would prefer to remain forever in this very hell with these loved ones of his.

Yudhishthira requested of the gods that they return to heaven, and leave him permanently in this realm of hell itself, to share in the suffering of these loved ones of his — this was his final, unwavering decision.

With this final, unwavering decision of Yudhishthira's, that entire dreadful, hellish sight suddenly began to dissolve, and Indra, the king of the gods, and Dharmaraja himself, appeared before Yudhishthira with exceeding joy.

Indra told Yudhishthira the profound secret that this entire hellish sight had, in truth, been merely an illusion, created only to test Yudhishthira's final, supreme righteousness and his unbroken love for his brothers.

Dharmaraja also made clear that it had been necessary for Yudhishthira to experience this sight of hell, for an exceedingly brief moment, as an exceedingly subtle atonement for that one, minor untruth-like event of his life — that half-truth spoken concerning an elephant named Ashwatthama.

He also made clear that all of Yudhishthira's remaining brothers and Draupadi had, in truth, never been in hell at all, but that all of them had already been seated, exceedingly happily, in heaven itself, in their respective divine forms.

Yudhishthira, deeply overwhelmed by this extraordinary revelation, and having succeeded in this final, difficult test of his, began experiencing profound satisfaction and gratitude, and now made ready to enter the true heaven fully.

Yudhishthira, after this final test, finally entered the true heaven, where he had an exceedingly emotional, heart-touching reunion with all his loved ones.

There he saw Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva, in their respective divine, radiant forms, in an exceedingly calm and joyful state, and seeing Draupadi too in her true, divine form, Yudhishthira's heart filled with immense joy.

Yudhishthira also learned that Draupadi had, in truth, herself been a portion of the goddess Lakshmi, who had descended into the lives of the five Pandavas to aid dharma and strength, and that she had now returned to her true, divine form.

In this very heaven, Yudhishthira also received the darshan of Karna, who was now seated, radiant and divine like his father Surya the sun-god himself, completely free of all worldly enmity, in an exceedingly calm state.

Yudhishthira, seeing this elder brother of his, Karna, in this divine form, was overwhelmed with profound emotion, and finally experienced complete release even from that last remaining anguish and self-reproach in his heart toward Karna.

In this heaven, Yudhishthira also received the darshan of Bhishma the grandsire, Dronacharya, and all his other elders, who were now seated in their respective divine, radiant forms, completely free of all worldly rancor and enmity.

Abhimanyu, Ghatotkacha, Drupada, Virata, and countless other heroic warriors, who had attained a hero's death in this terrible great war, all of them too appeared seated together in this divine heaven, in an exceedingly calm, joyful state.

Even Duryodhana and his brothers, in this divine setting, giving up all their worldly anger and enmity, were seated with honor, in an exceedingly calm, cordial spirit, together with all the other characters, in this one divine realm.

Yudhishthira, seeing this unprecedented, heart-touching sight, began to understand this profound truth, that that entire terrible conflict which had occurred on earth, and all the enmity born within it, had, in truth, been merely a worldly, temporary play.

In this divine heaven, all souls were seated together, in their true, eternal form, with complete peace and cordiality — this sight proved to be the most profound, most peaceful, and most poignant conclusion of the entire tale of the Mahabharata.

Meanwhile, at Hastinapur, Sanjaya, to whom this divine sight had been granted by Maharishi Vyasa, through which he had directly narrated this entire Mahabharata war and all the events following it, was now released from that divine sight.

Maharishi Vyasa told Sanjaya that his duty had now been fully completed, and that he had presented this entire, great tale, with exceeding faithfulness and truthfulness, before Dhritarashtra and before the entire world.

Sanjaya, released from this extraordinary, long-sustained duty of his, bowing to Maharishi Vyasa with exceeding reverence and gratitude, set out toward the forest, to devote the rest of his life to spiritual practice.

Maharishi Vyasa preserved this entire tale of the Mahabharata, through this otherworldly, divine sight of his and his extraordinary poetic skill, as an eternal, priceless treasure for all the generations to come.

This Mahabharata has, from that time to this day, throughout the entire world, remained an unparalleled, immortal guiding text of these profoundest principles of dharma, duty, sacrifice, and truth, from which countless generations, even today, obtain answers to life's profoundest questions.

Thus this extraordinary journey of Yudhishthira's to heaven, passing this final, profoundest test of his, was completed with a peaceful, divine reunion with all his loved ones and elders.

This entire tale of the Mahabharata, beginning from that first union of Shantanu and Ganga's, through Bhishma's unwavering vow, the birth and education of the Pandavas and Kauravas, Draupadi's swayamvara, the founding of Indraprastha, that terrible deceit of the dice game, the years of exile and of living in disguise, the eighteen-day-long great war of Kurukshetra, and finally the ascent to heaven, is the story of the final, unwavering victory of dharma.

This epic gives us the profound teaching that in life, however difficult and adverse the circumstances that may arise, the path of dharma, truth, sacrifice, and compassion alone ultimately leads toward true, eternal victory.

In this entire journey of eighteen parvas, we have seen the tale of the lives, struggles, sacrifices, and final liberation of countless characters — Bhishma, Karna, Dronacharya, Duryodhana, Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, Sahadeva, Draupadi, Kunti, Gandhari, and Krishna himself — a tale which even today reflects the countless questions of our own lives.

"Thus concludes the Swargarohana Parva of the glorious Mahabharata" — thus this Mahabharata of eighteen parvas, composed by Maharishi Vedavyasa, reaches its conclusion with this entire, profound, immortal tale of its, and this eternal knowledge will continue to guide the whole of humanity forever.