Shloka 240

Bhīṣma’s Admonition; Duryodhana’s Rājasūya Aspiration and the Proposal of a Vaiṣṇava-satra

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते वनपर्वणि घोषयात्रापर्वणि गन्धर्वदुर्योधनसेनासंवादे चत्वारिंशदधिकद्विशततमो<ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate vanaparvaṇi ghoṣayātrāparvaṇi gandharvaduryodhanasenāsaṃvāde catvāriṃśad-adhika-dviśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

یوں شری مہابھارت کے ون پرَو کے گھوش یاترا پرَو میں گندھرو اور دُریودھن کی فوج کے مکالمے کے ضمن میں دو سو چالیسواں باب اختتام کو پہنچا۔

Word by Word

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

• श्रीमहाभारते: in the holy Mahabharata
• श्रीमहाभारते: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्रीमहाभारत
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• वनपर्वणि: in the Vana-parvan (Forest Book)
• वनपर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वनपर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• घोषयात्रापर्वणि: in the Ghoṣa-yātrā-parvan (Cattle-camp expedition sub-book)
• घोषयात्रापर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: घोषयात्रापर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• गन्धर्वदुर्योधनसेनासंवादे: in the dialogue of the Gandharvas and Duryodhana's army
• गन्धर्वदुर्योधनसेनासंवादे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: गन्धर्वदुर्योधनसेनासंवाद
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• चत्वारिंशत्: forty
• Type: Noun
• Root: चत्वारिंशत्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• अधिक: additional; over and above
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अधिक
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• द्विशततमः: two-hundred-and-fortieth (lit. 200th+40th)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: द्विशततम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

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

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Mahābhārata
• Vana Parva
• Ghoṣa-yātrā Parvan
• Gandharvas
• Duryodhana
• Duryodhana’s army

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

This line functions as a colophon rather than a moral injunction: it marks the closure of a chapter and situates the episode within the larger structure of the Mahābhārata. Indirectly, by naming the Gandharva–Duryodhana-army encounter, it points to a recurring ethical motif of the epic—how arrogance and aggression can lead to humiliation and reversal.

What is happening in the narrative?

The verse is a formal end-of-chapter marker. It identifies the setting (Vana Parva), the sub-episode (Ghoṣa-yātrā), and the topic (the account/dialogue involving the Gandharvas and Duryodhana’s forces), and then states that the chapter count has reached the 240th.