Shloka 188

कृतयुगवर्णनम् तथा राजधर्मोपदेशः

Kṛtayuga Description and Instruction on Royal Dharma

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते वनपर्वणि मार्कण्डेयसमास्यापर्वणि अष्टाशीत्यधिकशततमो<ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate vanaparvaṇi mārkaṇḍeyasamāsyāparvaṇi aṣṭāśītyadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

Thus ends the one-hundred-and-eighty-eighth chapter of the Vana Parva of the Śrī Mahābhārata, within the section known as the Mārkaṇḍeya-samāsya (the compendium of Mārkaṇḍeya). This is the closing colophon, marking the end of the chapter and placing it within the wider ethical and narrative frame of the Forest Book, where teachings and exempla are gathered to guide conduct amid adversity.

Word by Word

इतिthus; end-quotation marker

श्रीमहाभारतेin the venerable Mahabharata

वनपर्वणिin the Vana-parvan (Forest Book)

मार्कण्डेयसमास्यापर्वणिin the Markandeya-samasyā-parvan (sub-section)

अष्टाशीत्यधिकशततमःthe one-hundred-eighty-eighth (chapter)

अध्यायःchapter

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śrī Mahābhārata

Vana Parva

Mārkaṇḍeya (by section name)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

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 is not a didactic verse but a colophon. Its function is to authenticate and locate the chapter within the Mahābhārata’s structure, reminding readers that teachings and narratives are transmitted in an ordered tradition and should be interpreted in their proper textual context.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrative action pauses: the text signals the close of a chapter in the Vana Parva, specifically within the Mārkaṇḍeya-associated sub-section. It is an editorial/recensional marker rather than spoken dialogue content.