Shloka 189
अम्बायाः तपोदीक्षा–रुद्रवर–आत्मदाहः
Amba’s Ascetic Vow, Rudra’s Boon, and Self-Immolation
इति श्रीमहाभारते उद्योगपर्वणि अम्बोपाख्यानपर्वणि हिरण्यवर्मदूतागमने एकोननवत्यधिकशततमो<ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate udyogaparvaṇi ambopākhyānaparvaṇi hiraṇyavarmadūtāgamane ekonanavatyadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Thus, in the Śrī Mahābhārata, within the Udyoga Parva, in the section known as the ‘Tale of Ambā’, in the episode concerning the arrival of Hiraṇyavarman’s messenger, ends the one-hundred-and-eighty-ninth chapter. This is a colophon marking the close of a narrative unit, situating the reader within the larger ethical and political tensions of the Udyoga Parva, where past actions and vows continue to shape present duties and impending conflict.
दुपद उवाच
Educational Q&A
As a colophon, the line itself does not teach a doctrine directly; it frames the text, reminding the reader that events unfold within ordered sections. In the Udyoga Parva context, such framing underscores how earlier vows, injuries, and choices (as in Ambā’s tale) continue to bear ethical consequences that shape later political decisions.
This is an end-of-chapter marker: it announces that the chapter concludes within the Udyoga Parva, specifically in the Ambā episode, at the point dealing with the arrival of Hiraṇyavarman’s messenger. It functions as a structural signpost rather than a spoken verse-content.