Janamejaya’s Appeal for Pacification and Śaunaka’s Counsel on Humility (जनमेजय-शौनक संवादः)
इति श्रीमहा भारते शान्तिपर्वणि आपद्धर्मपर्वणि कपोतलुब्धकसंवादे षट्चत्वारिंशदधिकशततमो< ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate śāntiparvaṇi āpaddharmaparvaṇi kapotalubdhakasaṃvāde ṣaṭcatvāriṃśadadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ | iti prakāraṃ śrīmahābhārataśāntiparvake antargata āpaddharmaparvameṃ kapotara-vyādhakā-saṃvāda-viṣayaka ekaśata-ṣaṭcatvāriṃśattamo 'dhyāyaḥ pūrṇaḥ |
Bhishma berkata: “Demikianlah, dalam Mahabharata yang suci, di dalam Shanti Parva—khususnya bahagian dharma ketika ditimpa kesusahan (Āpaddharma)—berakhirlah dialog antara burung merpati dan pemburu, menutup bab yang ke seratus empat puluh enam.”
भीष्म उवाच
This verse is a colophon marking the end of the Kapota–Lubdhaka (pigeon–hunter) discourse within Āpaddharma. Its ethical frame highlights that the preceding narrative is meant as instruction on right conduct under crisis—how dharma is to be understood and applied when ordinary norms are strained by danger, hunger, or fear.
The speaker (Bhishma) signals that the chapter has concluded: within Shanti Parva’s Āpaddharma section, the dialogue between the pigeon and the hunter has ended, and the numbered chapter is complete. It functions as a formal closing statement rather than a new plot event.