Shloka 278

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते वनपर्वणि रामोपाख्यानपर्वणि मारीचवधे सीताहरणे च अष्टसप्तत्यधिकद्धिशततमो<5ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate vanaparvaṇi rāmopākhyānaparvaṇi mārīcavadhe sītāharaṇe ca aṣṭasaptatyadhika-dviśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

ಇತಿ ಶ್ರೀಮಹಾಭಾರತದ ವನಪರ್ವದಲ್ಲಿ ರಾಮೋಪಾಖ್ಯಾನಪರ್ವದ ಅಂತರಗತ ಮಾರೀಚವಧ ಹಾಗೂ ಸೀತಾಹರಣವಿಷಯಕ ಎರಡೂ ನೂರು ಎಪ್ಪತ್ತೆಂಟನೆಯ ಅಧ್ಯಾಯವು ಸಮಾಪ್ತವಾಯಿತು।

Word by Word

itithus; so

śrīmahābhāratein the venerable Mahābhārata

vanaparvaṇiin the Vana-parvan (Forest Book)

rāmopākhyānaparvaṇiin the Rāmopākhyāna-parvan (section on the Rāma narrative)

mārīcavadhein the slaying of Mārīca

sītāharaṇein the abduction of Sītā

caand

aṣṭasaptatyadhikahaving eight and seventy more (i.e., 78 more)

dviśatatamaḥtwo-hundredth (ordinal)

adhyāyaḥchapter

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mahābhārata

Vana Parva

Rāmopākhyāna

Mārīca

Sītā

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

As a chapter-ending colophon, the line itself teaches by framing the episode: adharma expressed through deceit and unlawful desire (leading to Sītā’s abduction) inevitably triggers far-reaching consequences, calling forth a dharmic response and restoration of order.

What is happening in the narrative?

This is the formal closing statement of the chapter within the Rāmopākhyāna: it indicates that the chapter’s content covered Mārīca’s death and the abduction of Sītā, and it locates the episode within Vana Parva of the Mahābhārata.