Shloka 230

Duryodhana Seized by Citraseṇa; Kaurava Petition to Yudhiṣṭhira (दुर्योधनापहारः / चित्रसेनगन्धर्वग्रहणम्)

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते वनपर्वणि मार्कण्डेयसमास्यापर्वणि आज्िरसे मनुष्यग्रहकथने त्रिंशदधिकद्विशततमो<ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate vanaparvaṇi mārkaṇḍeyasamāsyāparvaṇi ājīrase manuṣyagrahakathane triṃśadadhikadviśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

Thus, in the Śrī Mahābhārata, within the Vana Parva—specifically in the section summarizing Mārkaṇḍeya’s discourse—ends the two-hundred-and-thirtieth chapter, in the episode concerning Ājīrasa and the account of the man-eater. The colophon marks the close of this unit, signaling a transition in the narrative and preserving the ethical frame of the tale as a remembered instruction.

Word by Word

इतिthus; end-quote marker

श्रीमहाभारतेin the venerable Mahabharata

वनपर्वणिin the Vana-parvan (Forest Book)

मार्कण्डेयसमास्यापर्वणिin the Markandeya-samasyā section (sub-parvan)

आर्जिरसेin (the episode of) Ārjiras(a)

मनुष्यग्रहकथनेin the narration of the capture of men

त्रिंशदधिकद्विशततमःthe 230th (two-hundredth plus thirty)

अध्यायःchapter

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śrī Mahābhārata

Vana Parva

Mārkaṇḍeya

Ājīrasa

manuṣyagraha (man-eater)

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?

As a colophon, the verse does not state a direct moral, but it preserves the didactic frame: stories are transmitted in clearly bounded units so their ethical instruction can be remembered, cited, and taught with textual precision.

What is happening in the narrative?

This line is a chapter-ending colophon. It announces that the 230th chapter has concluded within the Vana Parva, in the summarized discourse associated with Mārkaṇḍeya, specifically in the episode about Ājīrasa and the account of a man-eater.