Shloka 84
शकुनेः पुत्रेण सह आश्वमेधाश्वविषयः संघर्षः — Arjuna’s restrained engagement with Śakuni’s son during the horse-escort
इस प्रकार श्रीमह्याभारत आश्वमेधिकपरववके अन्तर्गत अनुगीतापर्वमें अश्चानुसरणके प्रसंगमें शकुनिपुत्रकी पराजयविषयक चौरासीवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ
Iti prakāraṁ Śrīmahābhārate Āśvamedhika-parvaṇi antar-gate Anugītā-parvaṇi aśvānusaraṇa-prasaṅge Śakuni-putrasya parājaya-viṣayakaś caturāśītitamo 'dhyāyaḥ samāptaḥ.
Thus, in the sacred Mahābhārata, within the Āśvamedhika Parva and specifically in the Anugītā section, the eighty-fourth chapter concludes—set in the episode of pursuing the sacrificial horse and dealing with the defeat of Śakuni’s son. The closing formula frames the event as part of the larger dharmic undertaking of the Aśvamedha, where royal authority, responsibility, and the consequences of conflict are narrated within an ethical horizon.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
As a colophon-style closing, the verse does not teach a doctrine directly; it situates the episode within the dharmic frame of the Aśvamedha. The implied ethical context is that post-war sovereignty and ritual authority are narrated alongside accountability and the outcomes of aggression and resistance.
The narrator (Vaiśampāyana) marks the completion of a chapter in the Āśvamedhika Parva, within the Anugītā section, during the episode of following the sacrificial horse—specifically noting that this chapter concerns the defeat of Śakuni’s son.