Shloka 260
Daṇḍa, Ahiṃsā, and Proportional Kingship: The Dyumatsena–Satyavān Dialogue (दण्ड-अहिंसा-विवेकः)
इति श्रीमहाभारते शान्तिपर्वणि मोक्षधर्मपर्वणि धर्मप्रामाण्याक्षेपे षष्ट्यधिकद्विशततमो<5 ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate śāntiparvaṇi mokṣadharmaparvaṇi dharmaprāmāṇyākṣepe ṣaṣṭyadhikadvīśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ |
इति श्रीमहाभारते शान्तिपर्वणि मोक्षधर्मपर्वणि धर्मप्रामाण्याक्षेपे षष्ट्यधिकद्विशततमोऽध्यायः समाप्तः ॥
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
This colophon signals that the chapter’s focus is a critical examination of dharma’s prāmāṇya—its claim to be authoritative and binding. Ethically, it frames dharma not as a mere custom but as something whose legitimacy can be questioned and defended through reasoned inquiry.
The verse is a concluding colophon marking the end of a chapter in the Mokṣa-dharma portion of the Śānti Parva. It does not advance the plot directly; rather, it formally closes the discussion on an objection regarding the authority of dharma.