Shloka 321

Śvetadvīpa-varṇana and Śāstra-pravartana (Śānti Parva 322)

Devanagari script

इस प्रकार श्रीमहाभारत शान्तिपर्वके अन्तर्गत मोक्षधर्मपर्वमें पावकाध्ययन नामक तीन सौ इक्कीसवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ

Transliteration

iti prakāraṃ śrīmahābhārata-śāntiparvaṇi antar-gate mokṣadharmaparvaṇi pāvakādhyayana-nāmakaḥ trayastriṃśad-uttara-triśata-tamaḥ adhyāyaḥ samāptaḥ

Translation

ಇಂತೆ ಶ್ರೀಮಹಾಭಾರತದ ಶಾಂತಿಪರ್ವದೊಳಗಿನ ಮೋಕ್ಷಧರ್ಮಪರ್ವದಲ್ಲಿ ‘ಪಾವಕಾಧ್ಯಯನ’ ಎಂಬ ಮೂರು ನೂರು ಇಪ್ಪತ್ತೊಂದುನೇ ಅಧ್ಯಾಯವು ಸಮಾಪ್ತವಾಯಿತು.

Word by Word

इतिthus; end-quote marker

प्रकारम्manner; way

श्रीमहाभारतम्the revered Mahabharata

शान्तिपर्वणिin the Shanti Parva

अन्तर्गतincluded; contained within

मोक्षधर्मपर्वणिin the Mokshadharma section

पावकाध्ययननामhaving the name 'Pavakadhyayana'

त्रिशतैकविंशतितमःthree-hundred-and-twenty-first

अध्यायःchapter

समाप्तःcompleted; finished

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śrī Mahābhārata

Śānti Parva

Mokṣadharma Parva

Pāvaka (Fire/Agni, as implied by the title)

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

This line is a colophon rather than a doctrinal verse: it does not add a new teaching, but signals that the chapter titled “Pāvaka-adhyayana” within the Mokṣadharma portion of Śānti Parva has concluded, framing the surrounding material as part of Bhīṣma’s liberation-oriented instruction.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator/editorial voice closes the chapter by formally naming it and locating it within the Mahābhārata’s structure (Śānti Parva → Mokṣadharma section). It functions as a textual boundary marker indicating completion of that adhyāya.