Shloka 286
इस प्रकार श्रीमह्याभारत वनपर्वके अन्तर्गत रामोपाख्यानपर्वमें कुम्भकर्णका युद्धके लिये प्रस्थानविषयक दो सौ छियासीवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ
iti prakāraḥ śrīmahābhārate vanaparvake antargate rāmopākhyānaparvaṇi kumbhakarṇasya yuddhāya prasthāna-viṣayakaḥ dviśata-ṣaḍaśītitamo 'dhyāyaḥ pūrṇaḥ
Thus ends the two hundred and eighty-sixth chapter of the Rāmopākhyāna section within the Vana Parva of the revered Mahābhārata, describing Kumbhakarṇa’s departure to engage in battle. The colophon signals a transition in the narrative toward the escalation of war, where duty, loyalty, and the consequences of allegiance to unrighteous leadership come into sharper focus.
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
As a colophon, the line does not teach through direct instruction; it frames the ethical tension of the coming battle: how personal duty and loyalty can become morally fraught when aligned with an unrighteous cause, and how war intensifies the consequences of such choices.
The text marks the completion of a chapter in the Rāmopākhyāna within Vana Parva, specifically the chapter dealing with Kumbhakarṇa’s setting out to fight, signaling the narrative’s movement into a heightened phase of conflict.