Shloka 171
कल्माषपाद-शाप-कारणम्
Cause of Kalmāṣapāda’s Niyoga under a Curse
इस प्रकार श्रीमहाभारत आदिपव॑के अन्तर्गत चैत्ररथपर्वमें तपती-उपाख्यानविषयक एक सौ इकद्ठत्तरवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ
iti prakāraṃ śrīmahābhārata ādiparvake antargata caitrarathaparvameṃ tapatī-upākhyāna-viṣayaka ekaśata-eka-saptatitamo 'dhyāyaḥ pūrṇaḥ
Thus ends the one hundred and seventy-first chapter of the Tapatī episode, within the Caitraratha section of the Ādi Parva of the Śrī Mahābhārata.
गन्धर्व उवाच
Educational Q&A
This line is a colophon rather than a doctrinal verse; its function is to mark textual completion and preserve the epic’s organization. Indirectly, it highlights how the Mahābhārata frames ethical and genealogical instruction through self-contained episodes (upākhyānas) embedded within larger narrative arcs.
The narrator (here labeled as the Gandharva speaker) closes the chapter by announcing that the adhyāya dealing with the Tapatī episode within the Caitraratha section of the Ādi Parva has concluded, signaling a transition to the next unit of the text.