Shloka 252

धर्मलक्षण-प्रश्नः (Marks and Sources of Dharma) | Chapter 251: Inquiry into the Definition of Dharma

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते शान्तिपर्वणि मोक्षधर्मपर्वणि शुकानुप्रश्ने द्विपज्चाशदधिकद्धिशततमो<5 ध्याय:

Transliteration

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

Translation

So endet im Śrī Mahābhārata, innerhalb der Śānti-Parva—insbesondere im Abschnitt Mokṣa-dharma—bei der Begebenheit von Śukas Anfrage das zweihundertzweiundfünfzigste Kapitel. Dies ist das abschließende Kolophon, das den Abschluss einer Lehrfolge kennzeichnet, die auf Befreiung und die sie tragende ethische Disziplin ausgerichtet ist.

Word by Word

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

• श्रीमहाभारते: in the venerable Mahabharata
• श्रीमहाभारते: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्रीमहाभारत
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• शान्तिपर्वणि: in the Shanti Parva
• शान्तिपर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शान्तिपर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• मोक्षधर्मपर्वणि: in the Mokshadharma section
• मोक्षधर्मपर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मोक्षधर्मपर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• शुकानुप्रश्ने: in the (topic of) Shuka's follow-up question(s)
• शुकानुप्रश्ने: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शुकानुप्रश्न
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• द्विपञ्चाशत्: fifty-two
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्विपञ्चाशत्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• अधिक: plus; exceeding
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अधिक
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• द्विशततमः: the two-hundredth (ordinal)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: द्विशततम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

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

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Mahābhārata
• Śānti Parva
• Mokṣa-dharma Parva (section)
• Śuka
• Vyāsa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

This line is a colophon rather than a doctrinal verse: it signals that the preceding discourse belongs to the Mokṣa-dharma portion of Śānti Parva and is framed as Śuka’s inquiry. The implied core orientation of the section is liberation (mokṣa) through right understanding and disciplined dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

The text is closing a chapter: it identifies the larger work (Mahābhārata), the book (Śānti Parva), the subsection (Mokṣa-dharma), and the narrative frame (Śuka questioning), and then marks the completion of the chapter count indicated here.