संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
महाप्रस्थानिकं सप्तदशम्mahāprasthānikaṃ saptadaśamthe Mahaprasthanika-parva, the seventeenth
राज्यं परित्यज्य पाण्डवाः पुरुषर्षभाःrājyaṃ parityajya pāṇḍavāḥ puruṣarṣabhāḥthe Pandavas, bull-like men, having abandoned the kingdom
द्रौपद्या सहिता देव्या सिद्धिं परमिकां गताःdraupadyā sahitā devyā siddhiṃ paramikāṃ gatāḥtogether with Queen Draupadi, set out toward the highest perfection
अत्र त्रयः अध्यायाःatra trayaḥ adhyāyāḥhere are three chapters
शतं विंशतिः च श्लोकाःśataṃ viṃśatiḥ ca ślokāḥone hundred twenty verses
स्वर्ग-पर्वं दिव्यं अमानुषम्svarga-parvaṃ divyaṃ amānuṣamthe Svarga-parva, heavenly, superhuman
पञ्च अध्यायाः संख्याताःpañca adhyāyāḥ saṃkhyātāḥfive chapters are counted
द्वे शते श्लोकानां प्रसंख्यातेdve śate ślokānāṃ prasaṃkhyātetwo hundred verses are reckoned
अष्टादश पर्वाणि उक्तानि अशेषतःaṣṭādaśa parvāṇi uktāni aśeṣataḥthus all eighteen parvans are proclaimed in full
खिलेषु हरिवंशः भविष्यत् च प्रकीर्तितम्khileṣu harivaṃśaḥ bhaviṣyat ca prakīrtitamin the appendices are extolled the Harivamsha and the Bhavishya(-parva)
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These concluding parvans crown the whole epic with the message of the return home, to God. In the Mahaprasthana, the Pandavas, leaving behind everything earthly, set out on their final journey to the Himalayas — and fall, one after another, along the way, for each carried some small flaw; only Yudhishthira, firm in dharma and compassion (who would not abandon even a dog), ascends alive. The Svarga-parva reveals that even the whole "heavenly" reward is not the final limit: the highest abode is where one dwells eternally with the Lord. Thus the Mahabharata, having begun with war, ends with a path of renunciation and ascent, teaching that the goal of life is neither a kingdom nor even heaven, but the return to the Lord. And the appendix "Harivamsha" glorifies Krishna Himself — His appearance and pastimes — as if to say that everything preceding it was only preparation for the glorification of the Lord, for whose sake the whole epic was composed.