Shloka 172
Prajñā as Pratiṣṭhā — Indra–Kāśyapa Saṃvāda (Śānti-parva 12.173)
इति श्रीमहाभारते शान्तिपर्वणि आपद्धर्मपर्वणि कृतघ्नोपाख्याने द्विसप्तत्यधिकशततमो<ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate śāntiparvaṇi āpaddharmaparvaṇi kṛtaghnopākhyāne dvisaptatyadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Thus, in the Śrī Mahābhārata, within the Śānti Parvan—specifically the Āpaddharma section—ends the chapter entitled “The Episode of the Ungrateful (Kṛtaghna),” being the one-hundred-and-seventy-second chapter. This is a colophon marking the close of a teaching narrative on conduct in times of distress and the moral gravity of gratitude versus ingratitude.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The colophon signals the completion of a didactic episode in the Āpaddharma context, where ethical reflection centers on the seriousness of kṛtaghnatā (ingratitude) and the expectation that one should remember and repay benefits received—especially when dharma is tested by hardship.
This line is not part of the story’s dialogue but a formal closing statement: it identifies the text (Mahābhārata), the book (Śānti Parva), the subsection (Āpaddharma), the embedded tale (Kṛtaghna-upākhyāna), and the chapter count (172nd), marking the end of that chapter’s discourse.