Mahābhārata Samāpti

The Mahābhārata closes in the Svargārohaṇa Parva. Janamejaya asks Vaiśampāyana how long the heroes of the Bhārata war stayed in svarga (heaven) and what their final destiny was. The answer comes through the vision of Vyāsa. Many of the great warriors were partial descents (aṃśa) of the devas. When their work on earth was done, they merged back into their divine source (aṃśī). Others do not. The roll of these mergers is recited. The account then returns to the outermost frame of the epic: the end of Janamejaya’s serpent yajña, which Āstīka had saved, and the telling of the whole history by Sauti to Śaunaka and the ṛshis at Naimishāraṇya.

Janamejaya’s question about the heroes’ final destiny

Janamejaya asked a subtle question. He named many of the great ātmās whose shining forms had been seen: Bhīshma and Droṇa, King Dhṛtarāshṭra, Dhṛshṭaketu, Jayatsena, Satyajit, the sons of Duryodhana, Śakuni son of Subala, the brave sons of Karṇa, King Jayadratha, Ghaṭotkaca, and many others. How long did they stay in svarga? Was their place there for ever? Or, once their deeds were used up, what path did they take? Did they merge with their divine source, gain an equal world for ever, or come down again to the earth?

This is the teaching of the Gītā: when puṇya (merit) is spent, one returns to the world of mortals. Janamejaya wanted certainty. With the assent of Vyāsa, the all-knowing ṛshi, made pure by tapas (austerity) and gifted with the divine eye, Vaiśampāyana gave the answer. (Svargārohaṇa Parva, Chapter 5)

The teaching of return to the source

It cannot be said that every being, when its karma is used up, dissolves into its own source-nature (prakṛti). If that were so, all would be set free alike. The beginningless cycle of saṃsāra would then have both a beginning and an end, and the commands and prohibitions of the śāstra would lose their meaning.

Only some do merge. These are the ones who, through yajña, dāna (giving) and tapas, have become fit to rejoin their divine origin. They merge into their aṃśī at the end of their enjoyment in svarga. The rest, having reached svarga, in time slip from it again. Vyāsa, who has the divine sight, had given this great secret to the devas, and here it was declared to the king. It shows that yajña, dāna and tapas remain worthy duties, because by them divinity is gained. (Svargārohaṇa Parva, Chapter 5)

The roll of the mergers

The ṛshi told how the heroes returned to their origins.

  • Bhīshma, of great splendour, entered among the Vasus, of whom eight are now seen.
  • Droṇa merged into Bṛhaspati, the foremost of the Aṅgirases.
  • Kṛtavarma, son of Hṛdika, joined the hosts of the Maruts.
  • Pradyumna dissolved, as before, into Sanatkumāra.
  • Dhṛtarāshṭra, with his glorious queen Gāndhārī, reached the hard-won worlds of Kubera.
  • Pāṇḍu, with his two wives Kuntī and Mādrī, went to the palace of Mahendra.
  • Virāṭa, Drupada, Dhṛshṭaketu, Niśaṭha, Akrūra, Sāmba, Bhānu, Kampa, Vidūratha, Bhūriśravas, Śala, King Bhūri, Kaṃsa, Ugrasena, Vasudeva, and Uttara with his brother Śaṅkha, all these excellent men entered among the Viśvedevas.
  • Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna, was Varcas, the son of Soma, of great lustre. He fought by kshatriya-dharma as no other could, and when his task was done he merged again into Candra, the moon.
  • Karṇa, after death, returned to Sūrya, the sun.
  • Śakuni entered Dvāpara.
  • Dhṛshṭadyumna entered Agni.
  • All the sons of Dhṛtarāshṭra were mighty beings of rākshasa nature. They were made pure by dying on their weapons, and they rose to svarga.
  • Vidura and King Yudhishṭhira entered Dharma himself.

By the command of Brahmā, Ananta, who was Balabhadra, went down into Rasātala to hold up the earth by the power of yoga. Vāsudeva, the eternal Nārāyaṇa, was an aṃśa of the Supreme. When his work was finished, he dissolved again into his own true form. The sixteen thousand consorts of Vāsudeva, in time, entered the waters of the Sarasvatī and gave up their bodies. They rose to svarga, became apsarases, and rejoined Vāsudeva.

Ghaṭotkaca and the other mahārathas (great chariot warriors) killed in the great war reached the devas and the Yakshas. The allies of Duryodhana who were known as rākshasas won, in due order, the high worlds of Mahendra, Kubera and Varuṇa. (Svargārohaṇa Parva, Chapter 5)

The closing of the frame

King Janamejaya had heard the whole history of the Kuru and Pāṇḍava houses told by Vaiśampāyana at his serpent yajña, and he was filled with wonder. His priests brought the sarpa-yajña to its end. Āstīka, who had saved the serpents from the fire, was well pleased. The king pleased all the brāhmaṇas with rich dakshiṇā (gifts). Honoured by him, they went to their own homes. Janamejaya returned from Takshaśilā to Hastināpura.

So, by the command of Vyāsa, Vaiśampāyana had told the whole history at Janamejaya’s serpent yajña. In turn, Sauti, son of Lomaharshaṇa, told it to Śaunaka and the ṛshis gathered at Naimishāraṇya. In this way the sacred work of Kṛshṇadvaipāyana, the truth-speaking ṛshi, the itihāsa named the Mahābhārata, was made known. Its supreme glory, its size and the fruits of hearing it are praised in the Mahābhārata Māhātmya and in the Bhārata Sāvitrī. (Svargārohaṇa Parva, Chapter 5)

Sources

  • Mahābhārata, Svargārohaṇa Parva, Chapter 5