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Shloka 188

Ambā’s Vow of Tapas after Paraśurāma’s Assessment (अम्बाया तपोव्रतनिश्चयः)

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते उद्योगपर्वणि अम्बोपाख्यानपर्वणि शिखण्ड्युत्पत्तौ अष्टाशीत्यधिकशततमो< ध्याय:,इस प्रकार श्रीमहाभारत उद्योगपर्वके अन्तर्गत अम्बोपाख्यानपर्वमें शिखण्डीका उत्पत्तिविषयक एक सौ अद्ठासीवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate udyogaparvaṇi ambopākhyānaparvaṇi śikhaṇḍyutpattau aṣṭāśītyadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

وختم بهيشما قائلاً: «وهكذا، في الـŚrī Mahābhārata، ضمن أوديُوغا بَرفا، في القسم المعروف بـ(أمبا-أوباخيانا)، ينتهي الفصل الثامن والثمانون بعد المئة—المتعلّق بميلاد وظهور شيخاندِي (Śikhaṇḍī).» وهذه الخاتمة تُعلن تمام الحلقة التي تُثير أسئلة العدل، والواجب المقيَّد بالنذر، والعواقب الأخلاقية البعيدة لإيذاءٍ وإذلالٍ يُحملان عبر الحيوات المتعاقبة.

Word by Word

इतिthus; so

श्रीमहाभारतेin the Śrī-Mahābhārata

उद्योगपर्वणिin the Udyoga-parvan

अम्बोपाख्यानपर्वणिin the Amba-upākhyāna section

शिखण्ड्युत्पत्तौin (the topic of) the birth/origin of Śikhaṇḍī

अष्टाशीत्यधिकशततमःthe one-hundred-and-eighty-eighth (chapter)

अध्यायःchapter

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Mahābhārata

Udyoga Parva

Ambā

Śikhaṇḍī

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The colophon closes the Ambā–Śikhaṇḍī cycle, underscoring how actions bound to pride, coercion, and rigid vows can generate enduring moral consequences. It points to the Mahābhārata’s ethical tension between personal vows (like Bhīṣma’s) and the broader demands of justice and compassion.

What is happening in the narrative?

This is the formal end-of-chapter marker: Bhīṣma’s narration concludes the chapter dealing with Śikhaṇḍī’s origin within the Ambā episode, situated in the Udyoga Parva as the war’s causes and key destinies are being explained.