Shloka 253
Dharma-Pramāṇa-Vicāra: The Elusiveness of Dharma and the Limits of Rule-Lists
इति श्रीमहाभारते शान्तिपर्वणि मोक्षधर्मपर्वणि शुकानुप्रश्ने त्रिपज्चाशदधिकद्धिशततमो< ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate śāntiparvaṇi mokṣadharmaparvaṇi śukānupraśne tripañcāśad-adhika-dviśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Thus ends the two-hundred-and-fifty-second chapter in the Mokṣadharma section of the Śānti Parva of the Śrī Mahābhārata, in the context of Śuka’s inquiry. This is a colophon marking the close of a discourse oriented toward liberation and right understanding.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
This line is a colophon rather than a doctrinal verse; it signals that the preceding discussion belongs to the Mokṣadharma (teachings on liberation) within Śānti Parva, framed by Śuka’s inquiry—emphasizing the text’s ethical-philosophical orientation toward mokṣa.
The narrator marks the formal close of a chapter: within the Śānti Parva’s Mokṣadharma section, the discourse connected with Śuka’s questions concludes here, and the text transitions to the next chapter.