Shloka 199
Dharma-vyādha on the Subtlety of Dharma, Karma, and the Continuity of the Jīva (Āraṇyaka-parva 200)
इति श्रीमहाभारते वनपर्वणि मार्कण्डेयसमास्यापर्वणि इन्द्रद्युम्नोपाख्याने नवनवत्यधिकशततमो<ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate vanaparvaṇi mārkaṇḍeyasamāsyāparvaṇi indradyumnopākhyāne navanavatyadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Thus, in the Śrī Mahābhārata, within the Vana Parva—under the section known as the Markandeya Samasya Parvan—ends the Indradyumna episode, concluding the one-hundred-and-ninety-ninth chapter (i.e., the 199th adhyāya).
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
This line functions as a colophon rather than a doctrinal verse: it emphasizes the Mahābhārata’s layered structure (parva, sub-parva, upākhyāna, adhyāya) and the tradition of careful textual transmission, where narratives are framed, titled, and formally concluded.
The narrator signals the formal close of a chapter and the completion of the Indradyumna sub-story within the Vana Parva’s Markandeya-related section, marking a transition point before the next chapter begins.