Shloka 179
कामीकवन-समागमः
Kāmyaka Forest Meeting: Kṛṣṇa’s Visit; Mārkaṇḍeya and Nārada Arrive
इति श्रीमहाभारते वनपर्वणि आजगरपर्वणि युधिष्ठटिरभीमदर्शने एकोनाशीत्यधिकशततमो< ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate vanaparvaṇi ājagaraparvaṇi yudhiṣṭhirabhīmadarśane ekonāśītyadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Thus ends the one-hundred-and-seventy-ninth chapter of the Vana Parva of the Śrī Mahābhārata, in the section known as the Ājagara episode, concerning the meeting of Yudhiṣṭhira and Bhīma. This closing colophon marks the completion of the chapter and situates the narrative within its ethical frame: the forest exile setting and the instructive encounter that tests strength, restraint, and dharma.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
This line is a colophon rather than a narrative verse; its ‘teaching’ is structural: it frames the preceding episode as part of the Ājagara (python) section and highlights that the encounter involving Yudhiṣṭhira and Bhīma is meant to be read within the Vana Parva’s ethical atmosphere—testing how power and impulse are governed by dharma.
The chapter concludes. The colophon announces that within the Mahābhārata’s Vana Parva, in the Ājagara episode, the chapter concerning the meeting/encounter of Yudhiṣṭhira and Bhīma has ended, and it provides the chapter count.