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Chapter 17. The Great Journey
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Mahabharata, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Dharma
Pursuing Enlightenment
Heroism and Warfare
Grief, Loss, and Mourning
Stories and Storytelling
Summary
Analysis
THE ASCENT TO HEAVEN. When he first enters Indra’s heaven, Yudhishthira sees Duryodhana seated on a royal throne. He immediately says he doesn’t want to live in any realm where Duryodhana is a king. Narada advises him to put aside his anger because hostility has no place in this heaven. Yudhishthira protests that if this is truly Indra’s heaven, he should see other dead heroes like Karna, Satyaki, and Dhrishtadyumna. He asks again to see his brothers and Draupadi.
While the end of the previous book might have seemed to suggest an end to all of the Pandavas’ struggles, the final book begins with the surprising imagery of Duryodhana on a throne in heaven, with none of Yudhishthira’s other dead friends and family around. This book suggests that death isn’t the end of the journey, an idea that could tie in to the concept of rebirth.
Themes
The gods tell Yudhishthira that if he wishes to be back with his brothers, he may go. He follows an “agent” of the gods on a dangerous path out of heaven, passing places where he sees evil-doers being tortured. At last, the agent says Yudhishthira has to keep going on his own. Yudhishthira keeps going until he hears voices in pain. The voices cry out that they are his brothers, Draupadi, and the other famous warriors that died in the war. Yudhishthira is full of grief and wonders if he’s gone mad to hear such distinguished voices in such a wretched place.
Yudhishthira finds that heaven is the opposite of what he expected. The voices that Yudhishthira hears and the scenes he witnesses seem to be tailored specifically to upset him. This jarring scene questions the whole premise of the poem, suggesting that Yudhishthira, the lord of dharma, might not have been following the correct life path after all.
Themes
After a while, Indra and the other gods come to see Yudhishthira, and all the torture and despair that he heard and witnessed goes away. A cool breeze blows, and Indra tells Yudhishthira that the gods are pleased with him. He explains that all kings must see hell at some point and that good kings must go to hell before going to heaven, while bad kings do the reverse. He shows Yudhishthira that Arjuna, Bhima, Nakula, Sahadeva, and Draupadi are all safe, along with the other warriors from the war.
After the fake-out in the previous passages, this passage once again confirms that Yudhishthira is a virtuous character who has found favor with the gods and reached a true heaven. The hell that Yudhishthira literally goes to is also the symbolic embodiment of how a king must figuratively be prepared to go to hell in order to ultimately reach a heavenly outcome in his kingdom.
Themes
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Vaiśampayana interrupts the story to explain how a person has to leave heaven after exhausting their good deeds—eventually, then, all of the great heroes take on new incarnations. He then ends the story of the Kauravas and the Pandavas.
While the story of the Pandavas concludes with the Pandavas living happily in heaven, Vaiśampayana makes sure to mention that people don’t stay in heaven forever, suggesting that whether in mortal life or in the afterlife, a person always has the responsibility to take action and try to achieve fame.
Themes
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Now Ugraśravas the Suta, who has been narrating the entire events of the poem, begins to conclude his story. After Janamejaya heard the whole story from Vaiśampayana, he left the snake sacrifice and went back to Hastinapura. Vyasa, who first composed the Bharata tale that Vaiśampayana told, took three years to create it, and he did so for the sake of dharma. Vyasa also composed a hymn of a few short verses to go along with his tale. The hymn questions why everyone doesn’t follow dharma, when dharma is eternal and flows through everything. Anyone who recites the hymn every morning will receive a reward, and anyone who recites the full Mahabharata itself will attain perfection.
The poem ends much like how it started—with the characters singing the praises of the power of storytelling. Vyasa promises that his hymn has the literal power to reward people who recite it often enough, just as several figures assert that reciting the Mahabharata itself helps people achieve victory in life. The final passage centers the concept of dharma, showing that, across its sprawling length, the Mahabharata continues to explore the ideal way for people to live.
Themes
