Shloka 77
आपद्धर्मे वैश्यवृत्तिः, विक्रय-निषेधाः, तथा ब्रह्म-क्षत्र-सम्बन्धः
Emergency Livelihood, Prohibited Trade, and Brahman–Kshatra Regulation
इस प्रकार श्रीमह्याभारत शान्तिपर्वके अन्तर्गत राजधर्मानुशासनपर्वमें केकयराजका उपाख्यानविषयक सतह्तत्तरवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ
Iti prakāraṃ Śrīmahābhārate Śāntiparvaṇi antargate Rājadharmānuśāsanaparvaṇi Kekayarājasya upākhyāna-viṣayakaḥ saptasaptatitamo ’dhyāyaḥ pūrṇaḥ.
Thus, in the Śrī Mahābhārata, within the Śānti Parva—specifically in the section on the instruction of royal duty (Rājadharmānuśāsana)—the seventy-seventh chapter, dealing with the illustrative narrative of the King of Kekaya, is concluded. This closing colophon signals the end of a didactic episode meant to clarify the ethical responsibilities of kingship and governance.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
This is a colophon marking the completion of a chapter within the Rājadharma instruction: it frames the preceding narrative about the King of Kekaya as an ethical exemplar meant to illuminate principles of righteous rule, responsibility, and governance within dharma.
The text is not a narrative event but an editorial/structural closure: it announces that the seventy-seventh chapter—centered on the upākhyāna (illustrative tale) of the King of Kekaya—has ended within the Śānti Parva’s Rājadharmānuśāsana section.