Shloka 206

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते वनपर्वणि मार्कण्डेयसमास्यापर्वणि पतिव्रतोपाख्याने षडधिकद्धिशततमो<ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate vanaparvaṇi mārkaṇḍeyasamāsyāparvaṇi pativratopākhyāne ṣaḍadhikadviśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

ਇਸ ਤਰ੍ਹਾਂ ਸ਼੍ਰੀ ਮਹਾਭਾਰਤ ਦੇ ਵਨਪਰਵ ਵਿੱਚ, ਮਾਰਕੰਡੇਯ-ਸਮਾਸ੍ਯਾਪਰਵ ਦੇ ਅੰਦਰ, ਪਤਿਵ੍ਰਤੋਪਾਖ੍ਯਾਨ ਦਾ ਦੋ ਸੌ ਛੇਵਾਂ ਅਧਿਆਇ ਸਮਾਪਤ ਹੋਇਆ।

Word by Word

itithus; so

śrīmahābhāratein the revered Mahābhārata

vanaparvaṇiin the Vana-parvan (Forest Book)

mārkaṇḍeyasamāsyāparvaṇiin the (sub-)parvan called ‘Mārkaṇḍeya-samāsya’

pativratopākhyānein the episode (upākhyāna) of the devoted wife

ṣaṭsix

adhikaadditional; exceeding

dviśatatamaḥtwo-hundredth (ordinal)

adhyāyaḥchapter

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śrī Mahābhārata

Vana Parva

Mārkaṇḍeya

Pativratopākhyāna

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

This line functions as a colophon, framing the preceding narrative as an ethical exemplum: the pativratā ideal—steadfast marital devotion understood as a form of dharma—presented within Mārkaṇḍeya’s instructive storytelling.

What is happening in the narrative?

The verse marks the formal close of a chapter in the Vana Parva, specifically within the Markandeya-related section and the episode about a devoted wife; it signals completion rather than advancing plot events.