Shloka 217

Khāṇḍava-dāha: Indra’s Countermeasures and the Nāga Aśvasena’s Escape (आदि पर्व, अध्याय २१८)

Devanagari script

इस प्रकार श्रीमह्याभारत आदिपर्वके अन्तर्गत अर्जुनवनवासपर्वमें अर्जुनका द्वारकागमनविषयक दो सौ सत्रहवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ

Transliteration

iti prakāraṁ śrīmahābhārata ādiparvake antargata arjunavanavāsaparvaṇi arjunasya dvārakāgamanaviṣayakaḥ dviśata-saptadaśottara-dviśatatamaḥ adhyāyaḥ pūrṇaḥ

Translation

So endet das zweihundertsiebzehnte Kapitel des Ādi Parva des Śrī Mahābhārata, innerhalb des Abschnitts über Arjunas Exil, das von Arjunas Reise nach Dvārakā handelt. Dieses Schlusskolophon bezeichnet die Vollendung dieser Erzähleinheit, wie sie von Vaiśampāyana überliefert wurde.

Word by Word

इतिthus

प्रकारम्manner/way

श्रीमहाभारतेin the Śrī-Mahābhārata

आदिपर्वणिin the Ādi-parvan

अन्तर्गतincluded/contained (within)

अर्जुनवनवासपर्वणिin the Arjuna-forest-exile sub-parvan

अर्जुनस्यof Arjuna

द्वारकागमनविषयकःconcerning the going to Dvārakā

द्विशतसप्तदशोत्तरःtwo-hundred-and-seventeenth

अध्यायःchapter

समाप्तःcompleted/finished

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Arjuna

Dvārakā

Śrī Mahābhārata

Ādi Parva

Arjuna-vanavāsa-parvan

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

As a colophon, the passage primarily teaches how the epic is organized and transmitted: it signals closure of a chapter and frames the narrative as an authoritative recitation (here, by Vaiśampāyana). Ethically, it underscores disciplined narration and textual continuity—marking completion before moving to the next unit.

What is happening in the narrative?

This is not a plot-verse but an editorial/narratorial closing statement: it declares that the chapter focused on Arjuna’s coming to Dvārakā, within the Ādi Parva and the Arjuna-exile subsection, has concluded.