Shloka 48
सर्पसत्रे ऋत्विजः सदस्याश्च — Officiants and Assembly at Janamejaya’s Serpent-Sacrifice
इति श्रीमहाभारते आदिपर्वणि आस्तीकपर्वणि आस्तीकोत्पत्तौ अष्टचत्वारिंशो5ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate ādiparvaṇi āstīkaparvaṇi āstīkotpattau aṣṭacatvāriṃśo 'dhyāyaḥ
Assim, no Śrī Mahābhārata, dentro do Ādi Parvan, no Āstīka Parvan, no relato do nascimento e origem de Āstīka, encerra-se o quadragésimo oitavo capítulo. Trata-se de um colofão que assinala o fecho de uma unidade narrativa, situando o episódio no quadro ético mais amplo de linhagem, dever e das consequências de votos e inimizades que culminarão na narrativa do sacrifício das serpentes.
तक्षक उवाच
Educational Q&A
As a colophon, the verse itself does not teach through dialogue; it frames the episode’s ethical arc: origins and lineage matter in dharma-narratives, and the consequences of hostility and vows (central to the serpent-sacrifice cycle) are prepared through Āstīka’s birth story.
The text is closing the forty-eighth chapter of the Ādi Parva, specifically within the Āstīka Parva, at the point where the account of Āstīka’s origin/birth has been presented; it is a formal end-marker rather than spoken action.