Shloka 304
इति श्रीमहाभारते वनपर्वणि कुण्डलाहरणपर्वणि पृथाद्विजपरिचर्यायां चतुरधिकत्रिशततमो<ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate vanaparvaṇi kuṇḍalāharaṇaparvaṇi pṛthādvijaparicaryāyāṃ caturadhikatriśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Thus ends the three-hundred-and-seventh chapter of the Vana Parva of the Śrī Mahābhārata, within the section on the taking of the earrings, specifically in the episode concerning Pṛthā’s service to a brahmin. This closing colophon signals the completion of the chapter and situates the narrative within its larger ethical frame of duty, humility, and the consequences of actions.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
As a chapter-ending colophon, the verse primarily teaches how the Mahābhārata frames events within dharma: episodes are remembered not only for plot, but for the ethical posture they exemplify—here, the ideal of humble service (paricaryā) and the moral weight of actions connected with loss or taking (āharaṇa).
This is not a spoken narrative line but a formal closing statement marking the end of the chapter. It locates the chapter within the Vana Parva, inside the Kuṇḍalāharaṇa section, and identifies the specific episode as ‘Pṛthā’s service to a brahmin,’ while numbering the chapter as the 304th in that internal count.