Shloka 216

Khāṇḍava-dāha: Strategic containment and Indra’s rain (Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 217)

Devanagari script

इस प्रकार श्रीमह्याभारत आदिपववके अन्तर्गत अर्जुनवनवासपर्वमें अर्जुनकी तीर्थयात्रासे सम्बन्ध रखनेवाला दो सौ सोलहवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ

Transliteration

Iti prakāraṃ śrīmahābhārate Ādiparvaṇi antar-gate Arjunavanavāsaparvaṇi Arjunasya tīrthayātrā-sambandhaṃ rakhanewālā dviśata-ṣoḍaśottara-adhyāyaḥ samāptaḥ.

Translation

So ist im ehrwürdigen Mahābhārata, innerhalb des Ādi Parva, im Abschnitt, der als Episode von Arjunas Verbannung gilt, das zweihundertsechzehnte Kapitel vollendet—es handelt von Arjunas Pilgerfahrt zu den tīrthas, den heiligen Furten.

Word by Word

इतिthus

प्रकारेणin this manner

श्रीमहाभारतेin the (holy) Mahabharata

आदिपर्वणिin the Adi Parva

अन्तर्गतincluded/contained (within)

अर्जुनवनवासपर्वणिin the Arjuna-forest-exile Parva/section

अर्जुनस्यof Arjuna

तीर्थयात्रयाby/with the pilgrimage

सम्बन्धंconnection/relation

रखणवालाhaving/keeping (Hindi; not classical Sanskrit)

द्विशतषोडशtwo-hundred-and-sixteenth

अध्यायःchapter

समाप्तःcompleted/ended

अभवत्was/became

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mahābhārata

Ādi Parva

Arjuna

Arjunavanavāsa Parva

tīrthayātrā (pilgrimage)

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 functions as a colophon rather than a doctrinal verse: it emphasizes orderly transmission of the epic and highlights tīrthayātrā (pilgrimage) as a recognized dharmic practice connected with purification, merit, and disciplined self-cultivation.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator signals the close of the 216th chapter in the Ādi Parva, specifying that the chapter’s content concerned Arjuna’s pilgrimage during the Arjuna-vanavāsa (exile/forest-dwelling) episode.