Shloka 103
Tapas-śreṣṭhatā: Anāśana as the Highest Austerity
Bhagīratha–Brahmā Saṃvāda
इति श्रीमहाभारते अनुशासनपर्वणि दानधर्मपर्वणि ब्रह्मभगीरथसंवादे त्रयधिकशततमो<ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate anuśāsanaparvaṇi dānadharmaparvaṇi brahmabhagīrathasaṃvāde trayadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Thus, in the Śrī Mahābhārata, within the Anuśāsana Parva—specifically in the Dāna-dharma section—this concludes the dialogue between Brahmā and Bhagīratha, marking the one-hundred-and-third chapter.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
This line functions as a colophon, situating the reader within the Mahābhārata’s ethical instruction: it frames the preceding material as part of dāna-dharma (the duty and ethics of giving) taught through the Brahmā–Bhagīratha dialogue, emphasizing charity as a central component of dharma.
The verse marks the formal close of a chapter: it identifies the epic (Mahābhārata), the larger book (Anuśāsana Parva), the subsection (Dāna-dharma Parva), and the specific dialogue (between Brahmā and Bhagīratha), and then states the chapter count as the 103rd.