Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 121
Sāma (Sāntva) and Dāna: The Brāhmaṇa’s Conciliatory Release from a Rākṣasa
इति श्रीमहाभारते अनुशासनपर्वणि दानधर्मपर्वणि मैत्रेयभिक्षायामेकविंशत्यधिकशततमो<ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate anuśāsanaparvaṇi dānadharmaparvaṇi maitreya-bhikṣāyām ekaviṃśaty-adhika-śatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Thus ends, in the Śrī Mahābhārata, within the Anuśāsana Parva, in the section on the dharma of gifts and charity, the chapter entitled “Maitreya’s Alms,” being the one hundred and twenty-first chapter (the 121st adhyāya).
मैत्रेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
This line is a colophon marking the close of a chapter within the Mahābhārata’s Anuśāsana Parva, specifically in the section on dāna-dharma (the ethical discipline of giving). Its function is to frame the preceding discourse as authoritative instruction on charity and righteous conduct.
No new narrative action occurs here; it is an editorial/structural closing formula. It identifies the larger work (Mahābhārata), the parva (Anuśāsana), the thematic sub-section (dāna-dharma), and the chapter’s topic label (“Maitreya’s alms”), along with the chapter number.