The Svargarohana parva or the Book of Ascent to heaven, is the final Parva of the 18 books of Mahabharata. This Parva does not have any sub parvas and consists of five chapters only, making it the second shortest Parva of the 18 parvas. The summary of the Svargarohana Parva is:
This Parva describes the people and the condition of heaven and hell with respect to Yudhishthira’s perspective. When Yudhishthira entered into heaven, he was distressed and frustrated to find evil people in heaven who had sinned a lot on Earth. He then visited hell and found that virtuous people were also there in hell.
During his stay in heaven, Yudhishthira even saw Duryodhana and was highly displeased with his presence there. Duryodhana had caused a lot of destruction on Earth and disrespected everyone. Yudhishthira questioned the fairness of the Gods. He also saw pious people like Karna on hell. He even found his brothers and Draupadi in hell crying in misery. Yudhishthira then decided to stay in hell along with his brothers and relatives.
Then, Lord Indra and deity Dharma came to meet Yudhishthira to convince him. Yama, the God of Death and Indra told Yudhishthira that every king and royal person had to visit hell and then move into heaven. As the Pandavas had done more virtuous deeds and little sins, they would spend some time on hell and then enjoy the rest of their stay in heaven. Then, Indra told Yudhishthira that the stay of his brothers and Draupadi and other virtuous heroes was complete.
Then, Yudhishthira returned to heaven and met Lord Krishna there. He even met Arjuna, who was serving Krishna. He also met Karna, whose skills and brilliance was equal to that of Surya Dev. He also met Bhima, Nakula and Sahadeva. He then met Draupadi. He met all the warriors and kings who had died in the battlefield of Kurukshetra. He saw Abhimanyu with the Moon, Bhishma with the Vasus and Drona by the side of Brahaspati. Therefore, the divine world, heaven, was inhabited by all the great warriors and kings of the Mahabharata War. Thus, the narration of the story was complete and the Mahabharata came to an end.
18 Parvas of Mahabharata
1. Adi Parva (the Beginning)
2. Sabha Parva (the Assembly Hall)
3. Vana Parva also Aranyaka-parva, Aranya-parva (the Forest)
4. Virata Parva (Virata)
5. Udyoga Parva (the Effort)
6. Bhishma Parva (Bhishma)
7. Drona Parva (Drona)
8. Karna Parva (Karna)
9. Shalya Parva (Shalya)
10. Sauptika Parva (the Sleeping Warriors)
11. Stri Parva (the Women)
12. Shanti Parva (Peace)
13. Anushasana Parva (the Instructions)
14. Ashvamedhika Parva (the Horse Sacrifice)
15. Ashramavasika Parva (the Hermitage)
16. Mausala Parva (the Clubs)
17. Mahaprasthanika Parva (the Great Journey)
18. Svargarohana Parva (the Ascent to Heaven)
