Shloka 146
Janamejaya’s Appeal for Pacification and Śaunaka’s Counsel on Humility (जनमेजय-शौनक संवादः)
इति श्रीमहा भारते शान्तिपर्वणि आपद्धर्मपर्वणि कपोतलुब्धकसंवादे षट्चत्वारिंशदधिकशततमो< ध्याय:,इस प्रकार श्रीमह्या भारत शान्तिपर्वके अन्तर्गत आपद्धर्मपर्वमें कब्बृतर और व्याधका संवादविषयक एक सौ छियालीसवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ
iti śrīmahābhārate śāntiparvaṇi āpaddharmaparvaṇi kapotalubdhakasaṃvāde ṣaṭcatvāriṃśadadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ | iti prakāraṃ śrīmahābhārataśāntiparvake antargata āpaddharmaparvameṃ kapotara-vyādhakā-saṃvāda-viṣayaka ekaśata-ṣaṭcatvāriṃśattamo 'dhyāyaḥ pūrṇaḥ |
Bhishma said: “Thus, in the sacred Mahabharata, within the Shanti Parva—specifically the section on dharma in times of distress (Āpaddharma)—the dialogue between the pigeon and the hunter comes to its close, completing the one hundred and forty-sixth chapter.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
This verse is a colophon marking the end of the Kapota–Lubdhaka (pigeon–hunter) discourse within Āpaddharma. Its ethical frame highlights that the preceding narrative is meant as instruction on right conduct under crisis—how dharma is to be understood and applied when ordinary norms are strained by danger, hunger, or fear.
The speaker (Bhishma) signals that the chapter has concluded: within Shanti Parva’s Āpaddharma section, the dialogue between the pigeon and the hunter has ended, and the numbered chapter is complete. It functions as a formal closing statement rather than a new plot event.