Shloka 183
Sarasvatī–Tārkṣya Saṃvāda: Agnihotra-vidhi, Dāna-phala, and Mokṣa-prasaṅga (सरस्वती–तार्क्ष्यसंवादः)
इति श्रीमहाभारते वनपर्वणि मार्कण्डेयसमास्यापर्वणि तयशीत्यधिकशततमो< ध्याय:,इस प्रकार श्रीमहाभारत वनपर्वके अन्तर्गत मार्कण्डेयसमास्यापर्वमें एक सौ तिरासीवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ
iti śrīmahābhārate vanaparvaṇi mārkaṇḍeyasamāsyāparvaṇi trayāśītyadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Thus, in the Śrī Mahābhārata, within the Vana Parva, in the sub-section known as the Mārkaṇḍeya-samāsya Parva, the one-hundred-and-eighty-third chapter concludes. This closing colophon signals the completion of the chapter and frames the teaching as part of the forest-exile narrative where sages transmit dharmic reflection through remembered tradition.
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
This verse is a colophon rather than a doctrinal statement; its function is to authenticate and locate the narrative within the epic’s structure (parva and internal sub-section), emphasizing the traditional framing through which dharmic instruction is transmitted.
The speaker’s discourse reaches a formal stopping point: the chapter is declared complete within Vana Parva, under the Mārkaṇḍeya-related sub-division, marking a transition to the next chapter or section.