Shloka 311
इति श्रीमहाभारते वनपर्वणि आरणेयपर्वणि मृगान्वेषणे एकादशाधिकत्रिशततमो<ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate vanaparvaṇi āraṇeyaparvaṇi mṛgānveṣaṇe ekādaśādhikatriśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Thus, in the Śrī Mahābhārata, within the Vana Parva—specifically the Āraṇeya section—ends the chapter entitled “The Search for the Deer,” being the three-hundred-and-eleventh chapter. This is a colophon marking the close of a narrative unit, situating the episode within the forest-exile context where conduct (dharma) is tested amid hardship and pursuit.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
This line is a colophon rather than a didactic verse; its function is to frame the episode within the forest-exile setting, where the broader ethical emphasis is that dharma must be upheld even amid scarcity, danger, and pursuit.
The text is marking the conclusion of a chapter titled “The Search for the Deer” within the Vana Parva’s Āraṇeya section; it signals the end of that narrative unit and provides its placement and chapter count.