Shloka 254

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते शान्तिपर्वणि मोक्षधर्मपर्वणि शुकानुप्रश्ने चतुष्पठ्चाशदधिकद्विशततमो<ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate śāntiparvaṇi mokṣadharmaparvaṇi śukānupraśne catuṣpañcāśad-adhika-dviśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

وهكذا ينتهي، في «شري مهابهاراتا»، ضمن «شانتِي بارفا»—وخاصة في قسم «موكشا-دهرما»—الفصل المعنون «استفسار شوكا»، وهو الفصل الرابع والخمسون بعد المئتين (254).

Word by Word

इतिthus; end-quote marker

श्रीमहाभारतेin the revered Mahābhārata

शान्तिपर्वणिin the Śānti-parvan

मोक्षधर्मपर्वणिin the Mokṣadharma-parvan

शुकानुप्रश्नेin (the section called) ‘Śuka’s follow-up question(s)’

चतुष्पञ्चाशदधिकद्विशततमःthe 254th

अध्यायःchapter

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mahābhārata

Śānti Parva

Mokṣa-dharma Parva

Śuka

Vyāsa

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

This line is a colophon rather than a doctrinal verse; it primarily signals the textual location and closure of a chapter within the Mokṣa-dharma portion of the Śānti Parva, framing the surrounding teachings as part of Śuka’s inquiry into liberation-oriented dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narration pauses to mark the end of a chapter: it identifies the work (Mahābhārata), the larger book (Śānti Parva), the subsection (Mokṣa-dharma), and the thematic setting (Śuka’s questioning), and then states the chapter count as the 254th.