Shloka 39
Baka Dālbhya at Avakīrṇa-tīrtha: Rāṣṭra-kṣaya and Release through Prasāda (Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 40)
इस प्रकार श्रीमह्या भारत शल्यपव्वके अन्तर्गत गदापबव॑नें बलदेवजीकी तीर्थयात्राके प्रसंगमें सारस्वतोपाख्यानविषयक उनतालीसवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ
Iti prakāraṁ Śrīmahābhārata-Śalyaparvaṇi antar-gata-gadāparvaṇi Baladevajī-kī tīrthayātrā-prasaṅge Sārasvatopākhyāna-viṣayakaḥ ekonacatvāriṁśattamo 'dhyāyaḥ pūrṇaḥ.
Thus ends the thirty-ninth chapter of the Sārasvata episode, occurring in the context of Baladeva’s pilgrimage, within the Gadā section of the Śalya Parva of the sacred Mahābhārata. The narration marks a formal close to this unit of teaching and story, situating the episode within the broader ethical frame of duty, restraint, and the consequences of conduct amid the war’s aftermath.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
This line functions as a colophon: it emphasizes textual structure and context—placing the Sārasvata episode within Baladeva’s pilgrimage and the mace-related section of Śalya Parva—reminding readers that ethical reflection (dharma, restraint, consequence) is embedded within a carefully framed narrative.
The narrator signals the completion of the thirty-ninth chapter dealing with the Sārasvata sub-story, told in connection with Baladeva’s tīrtha-yātrā, and notes its placement within the Gadā section of the Śalya Parva.