''Svargarohana Parva'' ( sa, स्वर्गारोहण पर्व) or the ''Book of the Ascent to Heaven'', is the last of eighteen books of the Indian epic ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

''. It traditionally has 6 chapters.Ganguli, K.M. (1883-1896)
Svargarohanika Parva
in ''The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa'' (12 Volumes). CalcuttaDutt, M.N. (1905) ''The Mahabharata (Volume 18): Swargarohanika Parv''a. Calcutta: Elysium Press The critical edition has 5 chapters. It is one of the shortest books in the Mahabharata. The Svargarohana Parva describes the arrival of

Yudhishthira ''Yudhishthira'' (Sanskrit: युधिष्ठिर, IAST: ''Yudhiṣṭhira'') is the eldest among the five Pandava brothers. He is mentioned in the ancient epic Mahabharata. He was sired by King Pandu of the Kuru Dynasty and his first w ...

heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...

, his visit to

hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

, and what he finds in both places. Yudhishthira is upset when he finds evil people in heaven and good people in hell. He demands that he be sent to hell where people who love him are present. The gods then reveal that their loved ones are indeed in heaven. The Parva ends with Yudhishthira happy.

Structure and chapters

The Svargarohana Parva (book) traditionally has 6 adhyayas (chapters) and has no secondary parvas (sub-chapters). It is the second shortest book of the epic.Bibek Debroy, The Mahabharata : Volume 3, , Penguin Books, page xxiii - xxiv of Introduction After entering heaven, Yudhishthira is frustrated to find people in heaven who had sinned on earth. He then asks for a visit to hell, where he finds people whom he had thought were good and virtuous on earth. He questions whether the gods were fair at all, and whether virtue during earthly life meant anything. In a fit of anger, he demands that he be sent to hell so he may be with those people who were good, just, virtuous, whom he loved, and who loved him. The gods then caused the illusory hell they had created as a test to vanish. Yudhishthira's father, the deity

Dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

appears, and congratulates Yudhishthira for standing up for dharma sending him to

Vaikuntha Vaikuntha ( sa, वैकुण्ठ, lit=without anxiety, translit=Vaikuṇṭha), also called Vishnuloka (), and Tirunatu (Tirunāṭu) in Tamil, is the abode of Vishnu, the supreme deity in the Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism,Gavin Flood, An ...

, where he finds eternal bliss. Yudhishthira is happy. He meets

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

, in his form as

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

. He then sees

Draupadi Draupadi ( sa, द्रौपदी, draupadī, Daughter of Drupada), also referred to as Krishnaa, Panchali, and Yagyaseni, is the main female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata,'' and the common consort of the five Pandava brothers ...

in heaven with his other brothers.

English Translations

Svargarohana Parva was composed in Sanskrit. Several translations in English are available. Two translations from 19th century, now in public domain, are those by Kisari Mohan Ganguli and Manmatha Nath Dutt. The translations vary with each translator's interpretations. Debroy, in 2011, notes that updated critical edition of Svargarohana Parva, after removing verses generally accepted so far as spurious and inserted into the original, has 5 adhyayas (chapters) and 194 shlokas (verses).

Significance

Svargarohana Parva is significant for claiming

Vyasa Krishna Dvaipayana ( sa, कृष्णद्वैपायन, Kṛṣṇadvaipāyana), better known as Vyasa (; sa, व्यासः, Vyāsaḥ, compiler) or Vedavyasa (वेदव्यासः, ''Veda-vyāsaḥ'', "the one who cl ...

as the creator of a poem with 6,000,000 verses with all the eternal knowledge there is. Of these, he gave the gods 3,000,000 verses, 1,500,000 verses to

Pitrs The pitrs () are the spirits of departed ancestors in Hinduism. Following an individual's death, the performance of the antyesti (funeral rites) is regarded to allow the deceased to enter Pitrloka, the abode of one's ancestors. The non-performanc ...

(ancestors), 400,000 verses to

Yaksha The yakshas ( sa, यक्ष ; pi, yakkha, i=yes) are a broad class of nature-spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness. They appear in ...

s (nature-spirits) and 100,000 verses as Mahabharata to human beings. It does not disclose where the unaccounted for 1,000,000 verses are. It ends with the claim that the Epic has all the shades of Truth in it. Chapter 4 of Svargarohana Parva is also significant for claiming

in the form of

Brahman In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' ( sa, ब्रह्मन्) connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part X ...

. In

Anushasana Parva Anushasana Parva ( sa, अनुशासन पर्व, IAST: Anuśāsanaparva) or the "Book of Instructions", is the thirteenth of eighteen books of the Indian Epic Mahabharata. It traditionally has 2 parts and 168 chapters.Ganguli, K.M. (188 ...

, Krishna was declared to be a form

and of

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

. This synonymous listing of various forms of Krishna as one, in Mahabharata, has ledSteven J. Rosen, , to the theory that all gods mentioned in

Vedic literature upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

are different forms of one God.

Quotes & Teachings

Svargarohana Parva, Chapter 5:

References

External links