Shloka 66
दमयन्तीवाक्य-प्रेषणम्
Damayantī’s Message and the Dispatch of Brahmin Envoys
इस प्रकार श्रीमहाभारत वनपर्वके अन्तर्गत नलोपाख्यानपर्वमें नलककॉटिकसंवादविषयक छाछठवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ
Iti prakāraṃ Śrīmahābhārata-vanaparvake antargata-nalopākhyānaparvaṇi nalakakōṭikasaṃvāda-viṣayakaḥ ṣaṭṣaṣṭitamo 'dhyāyaḥ pūrṇaḥ abhūt.
Thus, in the Śrī Mahābhārata’s Vana Parva, within the Nalopākhyāna section, the sixty-sixth chapter—concerning the dialogue between Nala and Karkoṭaka—comes to its conclusion. The colophon signals a completed unit of teaching and narrative, marking the end of a focused episode within the larger ethical and experiential arc of exile.
ब॒हदश्व उवाच
Educational Q&A
This verse functions as a colophon rather than a doctrinal statement: it teaches how the epic is organized into nested units (parva, sub-episode, chapter) and signals closure—inviting reflection on the completed dialogue’s ethical implications within the broader exile narrative.
The narrator’s tag and closing line indicate that the chapter has ended: within Vana Parva’s Nalopākhyāna, the episode focused on the conversation between Nala and Karkoṭaka is formally concluded.