Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 132
ब्राह्मण–क्षत्रिय-श्रेष्ठता-विवादः
Arjuna–Vāyu Dialogue on Brāhmaṇa and Kṣatriya Precedence
इति श्रीमहाभारते अनुशासनपर्वणि दानधर्मपर्वणि दिग्गजानां रहस्ये द्वात्रिशदिधिकशततमो<्ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate anuśāsanaparvaṇi dānadharmaparvaṇi diggajānāṃ rahasye dvātriṃśad-adhika-śatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Thus, in the Śrī Mahābhārata, within the Anuśāsana Parva—specifically in the section on the dharma of gifts—ends the one-hundred-and-thirty-second chapter, concerning the secret teaching about the elephants of the directions. This is a concluding colophon marking the close of the chapter and its ethical frame: instruction on right giving (dāna) as a facet of dharma.
रेणुक उवाच
Educational Q&A
This line functions as a colophon: it frames the chapter within the broader ethical discourse of the Anuśāsana Parva, emphasizing dāna-dharma (the righteous principles of giving) and indicating that the chapter’s topic is an esoteric account connected with the diggajās (directional elephants), a cosmological motif used to situate moral instruction within a sacred worldview.
The verse is not narrative action but a formal closing marker: it announces that the chapter has concluded, identifies the larger book (Anuśāsana Parva), the sub-section (dāna-dharma), and the chapter’s subject (the ‘secret’ concerning the elephants of the directions).