Shloka 303
इति श्रीमहा भारते वनपर्वणि कुण्डलाहरणपर्वणि पृथोपदेशे त्रयधिकत्रिशततमो<ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate vanaparvaṇi kuṇḍalāharaṇaparvaṇi pṛthopadeśe trayadhikatriśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Thus, in the revered Mahābhārata, within the Vana Parva, in the section concerning the taking away of the earrings, in the episode of Pṛthā’s counsel, ends the three-hundred-and-third chapter. This closing colophon signals the completion of a narrative unit that frames events in terms of moral instruction and the consequences of actions, especially as conveyed through Pṛthā’s guidance.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
This line is a colophon rather than a teaching verse: it marks the end of a chapter and situates it within the Mahābhārata’s larger structure. By naming 'Pṛthā’s counsel' and the 'taking of the earrings' episode, it frames the preceding material as moral instruction (upadeśa) embedded in narrative consequence.
The verse does not advance the plot directly; it closes the chapter by identifying the work (Mahābhārata), the major book (Vana Parva), the sub-episode (Kuṇḍalāharaṇa-parvan), and the thematic unit (Pṛthā’s counsel), and by stating that this is the 303rd chapter.