Shloka 253

Dharma-Pramāṇa-Vicāra: The Elusiveness of Dharma and the Limits of Rule-Lists

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते शान्तिपर्वणि मोक्षधर्मपर्वणि शुकानुप्रश्ने त्रिपज्चाशदधिकद्धिशततमो< ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate śāntiparvaṇi mokṣadharmaparvaṇi śukānupraśne tripañcāśad-adhika-dviśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

Ainsi s’achève le deux-cent-cinquante-deuxième chapitre de la section Mokṣadharma du Śānti Parva du Śrī Mahābhārata, dans le cadre de l’interrogation de Śuka. Ce colophon marque la clôture d’un enseignement tourné vers la délivrance et la juste compréhension.

Word by Word

• इति: thus; end-quote marker
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति

• श्रीमहाभारते: in the venerable Mahabharata
• श्रीमहाभारते: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाभारत
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• शान्तिपर्वणि: in the Shanti Parva
• शान्तिपर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शान्तिपर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• मोक्षधर्मपर्वणि: in the Mokshadharma section
• मोक्षधर्मपर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मोक्षधर्मपर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• शुकानुप्रश्ने: in (the topic of) Shuka's follow-up questions
• शुकानुप्रश्ने: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शुकानुप्रश्न
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• त्रिपञ्चाशत्: fifty-three
• Type: Noun
• Root: त्रिपञ्चाशत्
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• अधिक: additional; over and above
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अधिक
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• द्विशततमः: two-hundredth
• Type: Adjective
• Root: द्विशततम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अध्यायः: chapter
• Type: Noun
• Root: अध्याय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śrī Mahābhārata
• Śānti Parva
• Mokṣadharma Parva
• Śuka
• Vyāsa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

This line is a colophon rather than a doctrinal verse; it signals that the preceding discussion belongs to the Mokṣadharma (teachings on liberation) within Śānti Parva, framed by Śuka’s inquiry—emphasizing the text’s ethical-philosophical orientation toward mokṣa.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator marks the formal close of a chapter: within the Śānti Parva’s Mokṣadharma section, the discourse connected with Śuka’s questions concludes here, and the text transitions to the next chapter.