Shloka 249

द्रौपदी-शैब्यसंवादः — Draupadī’s Identification and Counsel on Hospitality

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते वनपर्वणि घोषयात्रापर्वणि दुर्योधनप्रायोपवेशे एकोनपजञ्चाशदधिकद्वधिशततमो< ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate vanaparvaṇi ghoṣayātrāparvaṇi duryodhanaprāyopaveśe ekonapañcāśadadhikadvīśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

इस प्रकार श्रीमहाभारत के वनपर्व के घोषयात्रापर्व में दुर्योधन के प्रायोपवेश-विषयक दो सौ उनचासवाँ अध्याय समाप्त हुआ।

Word by Word

इतिthus; end-quote marker

श्रीमहाभारतेin the Śrī-Mahābhārata

वनपर्वणिin the Vana-parvan (Forest Book)

घोषयात्रापर्वणिin the Ghoṣa-yātrā-parvan (Cattle-expedition sub-book)

दुर्योधनप्रायोपवेशेin (the section on) Duryodhana's fast-unto-death (prāyopaveśa)

एकोनपञ्चाशदधिकद्विशततमःthe two-hundred-fiftieth (lit. 200 + 50 − 1) [chapter]

अध्यायःchapter

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mahābhārata

Vana Parva

Ghoṣa-yātrā Parva

Duryodhana

Prāyopaveśa (fasting unto death)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The colophon highlights an ethical tension: when wounded pride and rivalry push a leader toward self-destruction, the act (prāyopaveśa) becomes morally charged—raising questions about rightful resolve versus manipulative despair, and the need for wise counsel to prevent adharma-driven extremes.

What is happening in the narrative?

This is the chapter-ending colophon for the episode in which Duryodhana undertakes (or resolves upon) prāyopaveśa—fasting unto death—within the Ghoṣa-yātrā sequence of the Vana Parva, marking the close of the two-hundred-and-forty-ninth chapter.