Shloka 81

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहा भारते शान्तिपर्वणि राजधर्मानुशासनपर्वणि वासुदेवनारदसंवादो नामैकाशीतितमो<ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate śāntiparvaṇi rājadharmānuśāsanaparvaṇi vāsudevanāradasaṃvādo nāma ekāśītitamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

Thus, in the revered Mahābhārata, within the Śānti Parvan—specifically in the section on the instruction of royal duties—ends the eighty-first chapter, entitled “The Dialogue between Vāsudeva and Nārada.”

Word by Word

इतिthus; end-quote marker

श्रीglory; auspiciousness; honorific

महाभारतेin the Mahābhārata

शान्तिपर्वणिin the Śānti-parvan

राजधर्मानुशासनपर्वणिin the Parvan called 'Instruction on the Duties of Kings'

वासुदेवनारदसंवादःthe dialogue of Vāsudeva and Nārada

नामnamed; called

एकाशीतितमःeighty-first

अध्यायःchapter

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mahābhārata

Śānti Parva

Rājadharmānuśāsana Parva

Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa)

Nārada

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

This line functions as a colophon: it frames the preceding discourse as instruction on rājadharma (the ethical duties of kings) delivered in the form of a dialogue between Vāsudeva and the sage Nārada, emphasizing governance grounded in dharma and disciplined counsel.

What is happening in the narrative?

The chapter concludes: the text identifies the larger work (Mahābhārata), the book (Śānti Parva), the subsection on royal instruction (Rājadharmānuśāsana), and names this unit as the eighty-first chapter titled “Vāsudeva–Nārada Dialogue.”