Shloka 187

Adhyāya 188: Mārkaṇḍeya’s Account of Yuga-Decline and the Restoration Motif

Kali-yuga to Kalki

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते वनपर्वणि मार्कण्डेयसमास्यापर्वणि मत्स्योपाख्याने सप्ताशीत्यधिकशततमो<ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate vanaparvaṇi mārkaṇḍeyasamāsyāparvaṇi matsyopākhyāne saptāśītyadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

如是，在《圣摩诃婆罗多》之《林居篇》（Vana Parva）中，于名为“马尔坎德耶汇集篇”（Markandeya Samasya Parva）之部内，“摩蹉”（Matsya）故事至此正式结讫，是为第一百八十七章。

Word by Word

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

• श्रीमहाभारते: in the Śrī-Mahābhārata
• 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

• मार्कण्डेयसमास्यापर्वणि: in the Markandeya-samāsya section (sub-parvan)
• मार्कण्डेयसमास्यापर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मार्कण्डेयसमास्यापर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• मत्स्योपाख्याने: in the Matsya-episode (story of the fish)
• मत्स्योपाख्याने: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मत्स्योपाख्यान
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• सप्ताशीत्यधिकशततमः: the one-hundred-eighty-seventh (chapter)
• सप्ताशीत्यधिकशततमः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सप्ताशीत्यधिकशततम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

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

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Mahabharata
• Vana Parva
• Markandeya
• Matsya-upakhyana

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

This line itself is not a teaching verse but a colophon. Its function is to frame the preceding story within the Mahabharata’s ethical discourse: it signals completion of a narrative unit so the reader can relate its lessons to the broader dharma-focused arc of the Vana Parva.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrative action has concluded; the text is formally closing the Matsya episode and identifying its placement: in the Mahabharata, within the Vana Parva, in the Markandeya-related section, as the 187th chapter.