Shloka 261

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते वनपर्वणि व्रीहिद्रौणिकपर्वणि मुद्गलदेवदूतसंवादे एकषष्ट्यधिकद्विशततमो<5ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate vanaparvaṇi vrīhidrāuṇikaparvaṇi mudgaladevadūtasaṃvāde ekaṣaṣṭyadhikadviśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

इस प्रकार श्रीमहाभारत के वनपर्व के व्रीहिद्रौणिकपर्व में मुद्गल और देवदूत का संवाद—दो सौ इकसठवाँ अध्याय—समाप्त हुआ।

Word by Word

इतिthus; end-quote marker

श्रीमहाभारतेin the revered Mahabharata

वनपर्वणिin the Vana Parva (Forest Book)

व्रीहिद्रौणिकपर्वणिin the Vrihidraunika-parvan (sub-section)

मुद्गलदेवदूतसंवादेin the dialogue between Mudgala and the divine messenger

एकषष्टिsixty-one

अधिकadditional; over and above

द्विशततमःtwo-hundred-and-sixty-first (as an ordinal)

अध्यायःchapter

Speaker

वैशग्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mahābhārata

Vana Parva

Vrīhi-Drāuṇika Parva

Mudgala

Deva-dūta (divine messenger)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

As a colophon, the verse itself does not state the teaching in detail; it marks the completion of the Mudgala–divine messenger dialogue, a didactic unit typically used to illuminate dharma through exemplary conduct, restraint, and the evaluation of merit in conversation with a celestial envoy.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśaṃpāyana’s narration reaches the end of a chapter: the Mudgala–devadūta conversation concludes, and the text formally identifies its placement within the Vana Parva and the Vrīhi-Drāuṇika section, indicating the chapter count as the 261st.