Shloka 260
Rāma’s Abhiṣeka Plan, Kaikeyī’s Boon, and the Initiation of the Exile
Mārkaṇḍeya’s Account
इति श्रीमहा भारते वनपर्वणि व्रीहिद्रौणिकपर्वणि मुदूगलोपाख्याने षष्टयधिकद्धिशततमो< ध्याय:,इस प्रकार श्रीमहाभारत वनपर्वके अन्तर्गत व्रीहिद्रीणिकपर्वमें मुदूगलीपाख्यानसम्बन्धी दी सौ साठवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ
iti śrīmahābhārate vanaparvaṇi vrīhidrāuṇikaparvaṇi mudgalo-pākhyāne ṣaṣṭyadhika-dviśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ |
Thus, in the sacred Mahābhārata, within the Vana Parva—under the section called the Vrīhidraunika Parva—ends the two-hundred-and-sixtieth chapter of the Mudgala narrative. This is a formal colophon marking the completion of the chapter, situating the episode within the larger ethical frame of the forest-book, where ideals of restraint, endurance, and dharma are examined through exemplary stories.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
This verse is a colophon rather than a doctrinal statement; its function is to frame the Mudgala episode within the Vana Parva. By formally closing the chapter, it reinforces that the preceding narrative is to be read as an ethical exemplar—typical of the forest-book’s focus on dharma tested through hardship, restraint, and right conduct.
The chapter concludes. The text announces that, in the Mahābhārata’s Vana Parva, within the Vrīhidraunika sub-section, the Mudgala-related upākhyāna has reached the end of its two-hundred-and-sixtieth chapter.