Adhyāya 177: Pañca-mahābhūta-vicāra and Vṛkṣa-jīva-lakṣaṇa
Five Elements Inquiry and the Status of Plant Life
इति श्रीमहाभारते शान्तिपर्वणि मोक्षधर्मपर्वणि शम्पाकगीतायां षट्सप्तत्यधिकशततमो<ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate śāntiparvaṇi mokṣadharmaparvaṇi śampākagītāyāṃ ṣaṭsaptatyadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ
ഇങ്ങനെ ശ്രീമഹാഭാരതത്തിലെ ശാന്തിപർവ്വത്തിലെ മോക്ഷധർമ്മപർവ്വത്തിൽ ശമ്പാകഗീത എന്ന നൂറ്റി എഴുപത്തേഴാം അധ്യായം സമാപ്തമായി.
भीष्म उवाच
This line is a colophon rather than a doctrinal verse: it signals the completion of the Śampāka-gītā within the Mokṣa-dharma portion of Śānti Parva, framing the preceding material as instruction oriented toward liberation (mokṣa) and higher dharma.
The text is closing a chapter and a named discourse. In the broader Śānti Parva setting, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira; here the redactor’s closing formula marks the end of chapter 177 (as counted in this tradition) within Mokṣa-dharma.