Śaśaloma

Śaśaloma was a king described as paramadhārmika, supremely righteous. In the Āśramavāsika Parva of the Mahābhārata, Nārada names him among the kings of old who reached svarga (heaven) through tapas (austerity).

Tapas and svarga

Nārada spoke to Śatayūpa and the ṛṣis gathered at Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s forest āśrama, near Kurukṣetra. He named Śaśaloma as a supremely righteous king who had lived in the past. Śaśaloma also performed tapas in this same forest, and by it he reached svarga.

Nārada named him last in a line of examples. The others were Sahasracitya, Śailālaya, Pṛṣadhra and Purukutsa. Nārada gave these names to show that this forest, a tapovana (forest of tapas), was a place where tapas surely bore the fruit of svarga. So Dhṛtarāṣṭra, who was doing tapas in the same forest by the grace of Vyāsa, would in time reach a rare and excellent gati (destination).

The Mahābhārata gives no more about Śaśaloma than this one mention. It tells nothing further about his reign, his family or the manner of his tapas.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Āśramavāsika Parva, Chapter 20