Shloka 40
Jaradkāru Encounters the Pitṛs
Jaratkāru-Pitṛdarśana
इस प्रकार श्रीमह्याभारत आदिपव॑के अन्तर्गत आस्तीकपर्वमें परीक्षित्-उपाख्यानविषयक चालीसवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ
iti prakāraḥ śrīmahābhārate ādiparvaṇi antaragate āstīkaparvaṇi parīkṣit-upākhyāna-viṣayakaś catvāriṃśattamo 'dhyāyaḥ pūrṇaḥ
Thus ends the fortieth chapter of the Parīkṣit episode within the Āstīka section of the Ādi Parva of the revered Mahābhārata. This closing colophon signals the completion of a narrative unit and frames the text as a carefully ordered transmission of history and moral memory.
कृश उवाच
Educational Q&A
This line functions as a colophon rather than a doctrinal verse: it teaches how the Mahābhārata self-organizes its tradition—marking boundaries of episodes and emphasizing faithful transmission and orderly remembrance of itihāsa.
The text is concluding a chapter: it states that the fortieth adhyāya dealing with the Parīkṣit episode, situated within the Āstīka Parva of the Ādi Parva, has been completed.