Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 126
Umā–Maheśvara-saṃvāda: Varṇa-bhraṃśa, Ācāra (Vṛtta), and Karmic Ascent/Decline
इति श्रीमहाभारते अनुशासनपर्वणि दानधर्मपर्वणि देवरहस्ये षड्विंशत्यधिकशततमो<ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate anuśāsanaparvaṇi dānadharmaparvaṇi devarahasye ṣaḍviṃśatyadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Thus ends, in the Śrī Mahābhārata, within the Anuśāsana Parva, in the section on the dharma of gifts and charity, in the sub-topic called “Divine Secret,” the one-hundred-and-twenty-sixth chapter. This is a concluding colophon marking the completion of the chapter’s instruction on righteous giving and its sacred, confidential significance.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
This line is a colophon rather than a doctrinal verse: it signals that the chapter’s instruction belongs to the Anuśāsana Parva’s dāna-dharma material and is framed as a ‘deva-rahasya’—a sacred or confidential teaching—thereby emphasizing the religious and ethical weight of righteous giving.
The narrative voice (Bhīṣma’s discourse context) reaches a formal close for the chapter: the text announces the completion of the 126th chapter within the specified parva and sub-section, functioning as an editorial/recitational marker in the transmission of the Mahābhārata.