Shloka 281

Parāśara’s Counsel on बुद्धि (Discernment), Karma-Consequences, and Avoidance of Pāpānubandha Actions

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते शान्तिपर्वणि मोक्षधर्मपर्वणि वृत्रवधे एकाशीत्यधिकद्धिशततमो<5ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate śāntiparvaṇi mokṣadharmaparvaṇi vṛtravadhē ekāśītyadhikadviśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

یوں شری مہابھارت کے شانتِی پَرو کے اندر موکش دھرم پَرو میں ورترا کے وध سے متعلق دو سو اکیاسیواں ادھیائے اختتام کو پہنچا۔

Word by Word

• इति: thus; end-quote marker
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति

• श्रीमहाभारते: in the revered Mahabharata
• श्रीमहाभारते: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाभारत
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• शान्तिपर्वणि: in the Shanti Parva
• शान्तिपर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शान्तिपर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• मोक्षधर्मपर्वणि: in the Mokshadharma section (parvan)
• मोक्षधर्मपर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मोक्षधर्मपर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• वृत्रवधे: in (the episode of) the slaying of Vritra
• वृत्रवधे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वृत्रवध
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• एकाशीत्यधिकद्विशततमः: the 281st
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एकाशीत्यधिकद्विशततम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अध्यायः: chapter
• Type: Noun
• Root: अध्याय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Mahābhārata
• Śānti Parva
• Mokṣa-dharma Parva
• Vṛtra

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

This line is not a doctrinal verse but a colophon: it situates the chapter within the Mahābhārata’s Śānti Parvan, Mokṣa-dharma section, and labels the chapter’s topic as Vṛtra’s slaying—framing the surrounding discourse within the ethical and liberative concerns of Mokṣa-dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

The text is marking the end of a chapter. It indicates that the preceding discussion/story concerned ‘Vṛtra-vadha’ (the slaying of Vṛtra) and that this is the 281st chapter within the Mokṣa-dharma portion of the Śānti Parvan.