Shloka 253

Dharma-Pramāṇa-Vicāra: The Elusiveness of Dharma and the Limits of Rule-Lists

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते शान्तिपर्वणि मोक्षधर्मपर्वणि शुकानुप्रश्ने त्रिपज्चाशदधिकद्धिशततमो< ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate śāntiparvaṇi mokṣadharmaparvaṇi śukānupraśne tripañcāśad-adhika-dviśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

かくして『シュリーマハーバーラタ』「シャーンティ・パルヴァ」中のモークシャダルマ篇、シュカの問いに関わる第二百五十二章は終わる。これは解脱と正しい理解へ向けられた説示の結びを示す奥書（コロフォン）である。

Word by Word

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

• श्रीमहाभारते: in the venerable Mahabharata
• श्रीमहाभारते: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाभारत
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• शान्तिपर्वणि: in the Shanti Parva
• शान्तिपर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शान्तिपर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• मोक्षधर्मपर्वणि: in the Mokshadharma section
• मोक्षधर्मपर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मोक्षधर्मपर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• शुकानुप्रश्ने: in (the topic of) Shuka's follow-up questions
• शुकानुप्रश्ने: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शुकानुप्रश्न
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• त्रिपञ्चाशत्: fifty-three
• Type: Noun
• Root: त्रिपञ्चाशत्
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• अधिक: additional; over and above
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अधिक
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• द्विशततमः: two-hundredth
• Type: Adjective
• Root: द्विशततम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

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

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śrī Mahābhārata
• Śānti Parva
• Mokṣadharma Parva
• Śuka
• Vyāsa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

This line is a colophon rather than a doctrinal verse; it signals that the preceding discussion belongs to the Mokṣadharma (teachings on liberation) within Śānti Parva, framed by Śuka’s inquiry—emphasizing the text’s ethical-philosophical orientation toward mokṣa.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator marks the formal close of a chapter: within the Śānti Parva’s Mokṣadharma section, the discourse connected with Śuka’s questions concludes here, and the text transitions to the next chapter.