Shloka 149

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते शतसाहस्रयां संहितायां वैयासिक्यामनुशासनपर्वणि दानधर्मपर्वणि विष्णुसहस्रनामक थने एकोनपञ्चाशदधिकशततमो< ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate śatasāhasryāṃ saṃhitāyāṃ vaiyāsikyām anuśāsanaparvaṇi dānadharmaparvaṇi viṣṇusahasranāmakathane ekonapañcāśad-adhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

Thus, in the holy Mahābhārata—Vyāsa’s compilation of one hundred thousand verses—within the Anuśāsana Parva, in the section on the dharma of giving, the chapter concerning the recitation of the Thousand Names of Viṣṇu comes to an end: this is the one hundred and forty-ninth chapter.

Word by Word

• {'iti': 'thus

• indicating conclusion', 'śrīmahābhārate': 'in the sacred Mahābhārata', 'śatasāhasryām': 'consisting of one hundred thousand (verses)', 'saṃhitāyām': 'in the compilation

• collected text', 'vaiyāsikyām': 'composed/compiled by Vyāsa', 'anuśāsanaparvaṇi': 'in the Anuśāsana Parva (Book of Instructions)', 'dānadharmaparvaṇi': 'in the section on the dharma of giving (charitable duty)', 'viṣṇusahasranāma-kathane': 'in the discourse/recitation of Viṣṇu’s thousand names', 'ekona': 'one less (than the next round number)', 'pañcāśat': 'fifty', 'adhika': 'in excess of

• plus', 'śatatamaḥ': 'the hundredth (ordinal base)', 'adhyāyaḥ': 'chapter'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śrī Mahābhārata
• Vyāsa
• Anuśāsana Parva
• Dāna-dharma (section)
• Viṣṇu
• Viṣṇu-sahasranāma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

This verse is a colophon rather than a doctrinal statement: it formally closes the chapter on the Viṣṇu-sahasranāma within the Anuśāsana Parva’s discussion of dāna-dharma. Its ethical framing is that devotion (remembering and reciting divine names) is presented in the epic alongside duties like charity as part of dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma’s discourse concludes a chapter: the text signals that the section in which Bhīṣma teaches—within the Anuśāsana Parva, under the topic of charitable duty, specifically the narration of Viṣṇu’s thousand names—has ended, and it identifies the chapter number.