Shloka 86

Śrāddha-dvija-parīkṣā: Paṅkti-dūṣa and Paṅkti-pāvana (श्राद्धे द्विजपरीक्षा—पङ्क्तिदूष-पङ्क्तिपावन)

Devanagari script

इस प्रकार श्रीमह्या भारत अनुशासनपर्वके अन्तर्गत दानधर्मपर्वमें तारकवधका उपाख्यान नामक छियासीवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ

Transliteration

iti prakāraṁ śrīmahābhārate anuśāsanaparvaṇi antargate dānadharmaparvaṇi tārakavadha-upākhyāna-nāmakaḥ ṣaḍaśītitamo 'dhyāyaḥ pūrṇaḥ

Translation

Thus ends the eighty-sixth chapter, titled “The Episode of the Slaying of Tāraka,” within the section on the Dharma of Gifts (Dāna-dharma) in the Anuśāsana Parva of the sacred Mahābhārata.

Word by Word

इतिthus

प्रकारम्manner/way

श्रीमहाभारतेin the (holy) Mahabharata

अनुशासनपर्वणिin the Anushasana Parva

अन्तर्गतincluded/contained

दानधर्मपर्वणिin the Dana-dharma section

तारकवधोपाख्याननाम(the chapter) named 'the episode of Taraka's slaying'

षट्six

अशीतितमःeighty-sixth

अध्यायःchapter

समाप्तःcompleted/ended

अभवत्was/became

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mahābhārata

Anuśāsana Parva

Dāna-dharma Parva

Tāraka

Bhīṣma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

This line functions as a colophon marking the end of an embedded instructive tale within Bhīṣma’s discourse on dāna-dharma. Its ethical frame is that narratives are used to reinforce principles of righteous giving and conduct, and the text formally closes the unit to signal completion of that lesson segment.

What is happening in the narrative?

The verse is not part of the story’s action but a concluding editorial-style statement: it announces that the chapter titled “Tāraka’s Slaying” has ended within the Dāna-dharma section of the Anuśāsana Parva of the Mahābhārata.