Shloka 231
Dvārakā’s Distress and the Saubha Engagement (द्वारकाव्यग्रता तथा सौभयुद्धम्)
इति श्रीमहाभारते वनपर्वणि अर्जुनाभिगमनपर्वणि सौभवधोपाख्याने एकविंशो<5ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate vanaparvaṇi arjunābhigamanaparvaṇi saubhavadho'pākhyāne ekaviṃśo'dhyāyaḥ
Thus ends the twenty-first chapter in the Vana Parva of the Śrī Mahābhārata, within the section titled “Arjuna’s Approach/Arrival,” in the sub-narrative known as “The Slaying of Saubha.” This is a colophon marking the close of the chapter, situating the episode within its larger narrative frame.
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
This line is a colophon rather than a doctrinal verse; its function is to preserve textual order and context, reminding the reader that episodes are nested within larger narrative units—an ethical-literary discipline of attentive reading and accurate transmission.
The chapter concludes here. The colophon identifies the work (Mahābhārata), the book (Vana Parva), the internal section (Arjuna’s approach/arrival), and the embedded tale (Saubha-vadha), signaling that the twenty-first chapter has ended.