Shloka 54

दमयन्तीस्वयंवरः — देववेषधारणं, सत्यप्रार्थना, नलवरणम्

Damayantī’s Svayaṃvara: Divine Disguises, Truth-Vow, and Choosing Nala

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते वनपर्वणि नलोपाख्यानपर्वणि इन्द्रनारदसंवादे चतुष्पञ्चाशत्तमो<ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate vanaparvaṇi nalopākhyānaparvaṇi indranāradasaṃvāde catuṣpañcāśattamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

Thus, in the Śrī Mahābhārata, within the Vana Parva—specifically in the Nalopākhyāna section—at the dialogue between Indra and Nārada, ends the fifty-fourth chapter. This colophon marks the formal close of the chapter, situating the narrative within its larger ethical frame: the forest-exile setting and the exemplary tale of Nala, conveyed through authoritative discourse.

Word by Word

• इति: thus; end-quote marker
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति

• श्रीमहाभारते: in the revered Mahabharata
• श्रीमहाभारते: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्रीमहाभारत
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• वनपर्वणि: in the Vana Parva (Forest Book)
• वनपर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वनपर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• नलोपाख्यानपर्वणि: in the Nala-upakhyana section
• नलोपाख्यानपर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: नलोपाख्यानपर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• इन्द्रनारदसंवादे: in the dialogue of Indra and Narada
• इन्द्रनारदसंवादे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: इन्द्रनारदसंवाद
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• चतुष्पञ्चाशत्तमः: fifty-fourth
• चतुष्पञ्चाशत्तमः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चतुष्पञ्चाशत्तम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अध्यायः: chapter
• अध्यायः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अध्याय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Mahābhārata
• Vana Parva
• Nalopākhyāna
• Indra
• Nārada

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

This line is a colophon rather than a didactic verse; its function is to anchor the teaching contextually—placing the chapter within the Nalopākhyāna and an Indra–Nārada dialogue, where instruction is conveyed through authoritative conversation and exemplary narrative.

What is happening in the narrative?

The chapter concludes. The text formally identifies the work (Mahābhārata), the larger book (Vana Parva), the embedded episode (Nalopākhyāna), and the dialogic frame (Indra and Nārada), then states that this is the fifty-fourth chapter.