Shloka 187

Adhyāya 188: Mārkaṇḍeya’s Account of Yuga-Decline and the Restoration Motif

Kali-yuga to Kalki

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते वनपर्वणि मार्कण्डेयसमास्यापर्वणि मत्स्योपाख्याने सप्ताशीत्यधिकशततमो<ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate vanaparvaṇi mārkaṇḍeyasamāsyāparvaṇi matsyopākhyāne saptāśītyadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

وهكذا، في «المهابهاراتا» الجليلة، ضمن «فانا بارفا»، وتحت القسم المعروف بـ«ماركاندييا ساماسيا بارفا»، تُختَتم هنا حكاية «ماتسيا»، مُعلِنةً تمام الفصل السابع والثمانين بعد المئة.

Word by Word

• इति: thus; end-quote marker
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति

• श्रीमहाभारते: in the Śrī-Mahābhārata
• श्रीमहाभारते: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्रीमहाभारत
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• वनपर्वणि: in the Vana-parvan (Forest Book)
• वनपर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वनपर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• मार्कण्डेयसमास्यापर्वणि: in the Markandeya-samāsya section (sub-parvan)
• मार्कण्डेयसमास्यापर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मार्कण्डेयसमास्यापर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• मत्स्योपाख्याने: in the Matsya-episode (story of the fish)
• मत्स्योपाख्याने: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मत्स्योपाख्यान
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• सप्ताशीत्यधिकशततमः: the one-hundred-eighty-seventh (chapter)
• सप्ताशीत्यधिकशततमः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सप्ताशीत्यधिकशततम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अध्यायः: chapter
• अध्यायः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अध्याय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Mahabharata
• Vana Parva
• Markandeya
• Matsya-upakhyana

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

This line itself is not a teaching verse but a colophon. Its function is to frame the preceding story within the Mahabharata’s ethical discourse: it signals completion of a narrative unit so the reader can relate its lessons to the broader dharma-focused arc of the Vana Parva.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrative action has concluded; the text is formally closing the Matsya episode and identifying its placement: in the Mahabharata, within the Vana Parva, in the Markandeya-related section, as the 187th chapter.