Shloka 39
Baka Dālbhya at Avakīrṇa-tīrtha: Rāṣṭra-kṣaya and Release through Prasāda (Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 40)
इस प्रकार श्रीमह्या भारत शल्यपव्वके अन्तर्गत गदापबव॑नें बलदेवजीकी तीर्थयात्राके प्रसंगमें सारस्वतोपाख्यानविषयक उनतालीसवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ
Iti prakāraṁ Śrīmahābhārata-Śalyaparvaṇi antar-gata-gadāparvaṇi Baladevajī-kī tīrthayātrā-prasaṅge Sārasvatopākhyāna-viṣayakaḥ ekonacatvāriṁśattamo 'dhyāyaḥ pūrṇaḥ.
इति श्रीमहाभारते शल्यपर्वणि गदापर्वणि बलदेवतीर्थयात्राप्रसङ्गे सारस्वतोपाख्याने एकोनचत्वारिंशोऽध्यायः समाप्तः।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
This line functions as a colophon: it emphasizes textual structure and context—placing the Sārasvata episode within Baladeva’s pilgrimage and the mace-related section of Śalya Parva—reminding readers that ethical reflection (dharma, restraint, consequence) is embedded within a carefully framed narrative.
The narrator signals the completion of the thirty-ninth chapter dealing with the Sārasvata sub-story, told in connection with Baladeva’s tīrtha-yātrā, and notes its placement within the Gadā section of the Śalya Parva.