Shloka 13131
Aṣṭāvakra–Kahoda Upākhyāna: Śvetaketu’s Āśrama, Sarasvatī, and the Origin of Aṣṭāvakra
इति श्रीमहाभारते वनपर्वणि तीर्थयात्रापर्वणि लोमशतीर्थयात्रायां श्येनकपोतीये एकत्रिंशदधिकशततमो< ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate vanaparvaṇi tīrthayātrāparvaṇi lomaśatīrthayātrāyāṃ śyenakapotīye ekatriṃśadadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Ainsi, dans le Śrī Mahābhārata, au sein du Vana Parva—plus précisément dans la section Tīrtha-yātrā relatant le pèlerinage de Lomāśa—s’achève le cent trente et unième chapitre, dit l’épisode du faucon et de la colombe (Śyenakapotīya). Ce colophon de clôture encadre le récit comme un exemplum moral, soulignant les tensions entre devoir, compassion et revendications des divers êtres au regard du dharma.
श्येन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The colophon signals that the preceding episode (hawk and dove) is presented as a dharma-illustration: ethical life involves weighing competing claims—compassion for the vulnerable, obligations toward living beings, and the limits of one’s duty—within a larger moral order.
This line is a closing colophon: it marks the end of the 131st chapter within the Vana Parva’s pilgrimage section, situating the ‘hawk-and-dove’ episode inside Lomāśa’s tīrtha-yātrā narration.