Shloka 281

Parāśara’s Counsel on बुद्धि (Discernment), Karma-Consequences, and Avoidance of Pāpānubandha Actions

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते शान्तिपर्वणि मोक्षधर्मपर्वणि वृत्रवधे एकाशीत्यधिकद्धिशततमो<5ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate śāntiparvaṇi mokṣadharmaparvaṇi vṛtravadhē ekāśītyadhikadviśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

Thus, in the Śrī Mahābhārata, within the Śānti Parvan—specifically the Mokṣa-dharma section—ends the two-hundred-and-eighty-first chapter, concerning the slaying of Vṛtra. (This is a concluding colophon marking the close of the chapter.)

Word by Word

इतिthus; end-quote marker

श्रीमहाभारतेin the revered Mahabharata

शान्तिपर्वणिin the Shanti Parva

मोक्षधर्मपर्वणिin the Mokshadharma section (parvan)

वृत्रवधेin (the episode of) the slaying of Vritra

एकाशीत्यधिकद्विशततमःthe 281st

अध्यायःchapter

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mahābhārata

Śānti Parva

Mokṣa-dharma Parva

Vṛtra

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

This line is not a doctrinal verse but a colophon: it situates the chapter within the Mahābhārata’s Śānti Parvan, Mokṣa-dharma section, and labels the chapter’s topic as Vṛtra’s slaying—framing the surrounding discourse within the ethical and liberative concerns of Mokṣa-dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

The text is marking the end of a chapter. It indicates that the preceding discussion/story concerned ‘Vṛtra-vadha’ (the slaying of Vṛtra) and that this is the 281st chapter within the Mokṣa-dharma portion of the Śānti Parvan.