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{{short description|Eighteenth book of the Mahabharata}}
[[File:Yudhisthira with a dog as a chariot from heaven arrive.jpg|thumb|250px|Svargarohana Parva describes the arrival of [[Yudhishthira]] in heaven on Indra's chariot and what he finds there.]]

'''''Svargarohana Parva''''' ({{lang-sa| स्वर्गारोहण पर्व}}) or the '''''Book of the Ascent to Heaven''''', is the last of eighteen books of the Indian epic [[Mahabharata]]. It traditionally has 6 chapters.<ref name="kmg">Ganguli, K.M. (1883-1896) "[http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m18/index.htm Svargarohanika Parva]" in ''The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa'' (12 Volumes). Calcutta</ref><ref name="mnd">Dutt, M.N. (1905) ''The Mahabharata (Volume 18): Swargarohanika Parv''a. Calcutta: Elysium Press</ref> The critical edition has 5 chapters.<ref>van Buitenen, J.A.B. (1973) ''The Mahabharata: Book 1: The Book of the Beginning''. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, p 478</ref><ref>Debroy, B. (2010) ''The Mahabharata, Volume 1''. Gurgaon: Penguin Books India, pp xxiii - xxvi</ref> It is one of the shortest books in the Mahabharata.

Svargarohana Parva describes the arrival of [[Yudhishthira]] in heaven, his visit to 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 he be sent to hell where people who love him are. The gods then reveal that their loved ones are in heaven. The Parva ends with Yudhishthira happy.

==Structure and chapters==

Svargarohana [[Mahabharata#The 18 parvas or books|Parva]] (book) traditionally has 6 adhyayas (sections, chapters) and has no secondary sub-parvas (sub-books or little books).<ref name=kmg/> It is the second smallest book of the Epic.<ref name="bd">Bibek Debroy, The Mahabharata : Volume 3, {{ISBN|978-0143100157}}, Penguin Books, page xxiii - xxiv of Introduction</ref>

After entering heaven, Yudhishthira is frustrated to find people in heaven who had sinned on earth. He then asks for a visit to hell and there he finds people who he thought were good and virtuous on earth. He questions whether gods were fair at all, whether virtue during earthly life means anything ever and then in anger demands that he be sent to hell so he can be with those people who were good, just, virtuous, who he loved and who loved him. The gods then remove the fake hell they had created for show. Deity Dharma appears and congratulates Yudhishthira for always standing up for dharma and sends him to [[Vaikuntha|vaikunth]] where he finds eternal bliss.

[[File:ಶ್ರೀ ಚಾಮುಂಡೇಶ್ವರಿ ದೇವಿ.jpg|thumb|Yudhishthira finds out that Draupadi was an incarnation of Adi Parashakti]]

Yudhishthira is happy. He meets [[Krishna]] next, in his form as [[Vishnu]]. He then sees [[Draupadi]] 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<ref name=kmg/> and Manmatha Nath Dutt.<ref name=mnd/> 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).<ref name="bd" />

==Significance==

Svargarohana Parva is significant for claiming [[Vyasa]] 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]] (ancestors), 400,000 verses to [[Yaksha]]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.<ref name=kmg/><ref>John Murdoch (1898), The Mahabharata - An English Abridgment, Christian Literature Society for India, London, pages 137-138</ref>

Chapter 4 of Svargarohana Parva is also significant for claiming [[Krishna]] in the form of [[Brahman]].<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/mahabharataofkri09royp#page/n445/mode/2up Svargarohana Parva] The Mahabharata, Translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli, Published by P.C. Roy (1893)</ref> In [[Anushasana Parva]], Krishna was declared to be a form [[Vishnu]] and of [[Shiva]]. This synonymous listing of various forms of Krishna as one, in Mahabharata, has led<ref>Steven J. Rosen, {{Google books|fYjX7W6SCLMC|The Agni and the Ecstasy|page=185}}, {{ISBN|978-1907166792}}</ref> to the theory that all gods mentioned in [[Vedic literature]] are different forms of one God.

==Quotes & Teachings==

'''Svargarohana Parva''', Chapter 5:
{{quote|
<poem>
There are thousands of occasions for joy and hundreds of occasions for fear;
These affect only him that is ignorant but never him that is wise;
With uplifted arms I am crying aloud but nobody hears me.

From Righteousness<ref>Original word in Sanskrit here is Dharma, see [http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/mbs/mbs18005.htm Book 18 of The Mahabharata in Sanskrit]</ref> comes Wealth, also Pleasure;
Why should not Righteousness, therefore, be courted?
For the sake neither of pleasure, nor of fear, nor of cupidity should any one cast off Righteousness.

Indeed, for the sake of even life one should not cast off Righteousness;
Righteousness is eternal. Pleasure and Pain are not eternal;
[[Jiva]] is eternal. A body is not so.
</poem>
|Svargarohana Parva|[[Mahabharata]] Book xviii.5<ref name=mnd/>}}

==See also==
* [[Mahaprasthanika Parva|Previous book of Mahabharata: Mahaprasthanika Parva]]
* [[Harivamsa|Epilogue, Supplement to Mahabharata: Harivamsa]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m18/index.htm Svargarohana Parva], English Translation by Kisari Mohan Ganguli
* [http://www.worldcat.org/title/prose-english-translation-of-the-mahabharata-tr-literally-from-the-original-sanskrit-text/oclc/5282965&referer=brief_results Svargarohana Parva], English Translation by Manmatha Nath Dutt
* [http://www.worldcat.org/title/mahabharatam-with-the-bharata-bhawadeepa-commentary-of-nilkantha-6-13-anushasana-parva-14-asvamedhikaparva-15-asramavasikaparva-16-mausalaparva-17-mahaprasthanikaparva-18-svargarohanaparva-illustrated/oclc/165121187 Svargarohana Parva in Sanskrit] by Vyasadeva with commentary by Nilakantha - Worldcat OCLC link
* [https://archive.org/stream/mahabharata06ramauoft#page/1176/mode/2up Svargarohana Parva in Sanskrit and Hindi] by Ramnarayandutt Shastri, Volume 5

{{Mahabharata}}

[[Category:Parvas in Mahabharata]]

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Svargarohana Parva - Revision history

imported>Ritvik S at 08:35, 23 May 2021