Shloka 196
कौशिकस्य क्रोधविनिवृत्तिः — Kauśika’s Anger Checked by Householder Dharma
इति श्रीमहाभारते वनपर्वणि मार्कण्डेयसमास्यापर्वणि सेदुकवृषदर्भचरिते षण्णवत्यधिकशततमो<ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate vanaparvaṇi mārkaṇḍeyasamāsyāparvaṇi sedukavṛṣadarbhacarite ṣaṇṇavatyadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Thus, in the Śrī Mahābhārata, within the Vana Parva—specifically in the section summarizing the discourse of Mārkaṇḍeya—ends the one-hundred-and-ninety-sixth chapter, known as the episode concerning Seduka, Vṛṣa, and Darbha. (This is a colophon marking the close of the chapter.)
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
This line is a colophon rather than a didactic verse: it teaches indirectly by emphasizing textual order and faithful transmission—marking where a chapter ends and identifying its thematic episode (Seduka–Vṛṣa–Darbha) within Mārkaṇḍeya’s summarized discourse in the Forest Book.
The narrative action pauses: the text formally closes the chapter, situating it within the Mahābhārata’s Vana Parva and within the Mārkaṇḍeya-related subsection, and naming the episode that has just concluded.