Shloka 96

Adharmic Victory as Unstable; Rules of Restraint, Mediation, and Conciliation (अधर्मविजय-अध्रुवत्व तथा क्षमा-नयः)

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहा भारते शान्तिपर्वणि राजधर्मानुशासनपर्वणि विजिगीषमाणपृत्ते षण्णवतितमो<ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate śāntiparvaṇi rājadharmānuśāsanaparvaṇi vijigīṣamāṇapṛtte ṣaṇṇavatitamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

So endet im ehrwürdigen Mahābhārata, innerhalb des Śānti Parva—insbesondere im Abschnitt des Rājadharmānuśāsana Parva, der Unterweisung über die Pflichten des Königs—das sechsundneunzigste Kapitel, gesprochen als Antwort auf die Fragen dessen, der den Sieg begehrt. Diese Schlussformel bezeichnet den Abschluss eines Teils von Bhīṣmas Rat über gerechte Königsherrschaft und Staatskunst.

Word by Word

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

• श्री: glory; auspiciousness; honorific 'śrī'
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्री
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• महाभारते: in the Mahābhārata
• महाभारते: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाभारत
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• शान्तिपर्वणि: in the Śānti-parvan
• शान्तिपर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शान्तिपर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• राजधर्मानुशासनपर्वणि: in the 'Instruction on the Duties of Kings' parvan (section)
• राजधर्मानुशासनपर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजधर्मानुशासनपर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• विजिगीषमाणपृष्टे: in (the section) 'when asked by one desiring to conquer'
• विजिगीषमाणपृष्टे: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विजिगीषमाणपृष्ट
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• षण्णवतितमः: ninety-sixth
• Type: Adjective
• Root: षण्णवतितम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

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

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Mahābhārata
• Śānti Parva
• Rājadharmānuśāsana Parva
• Bhīṣma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

This line is a colophon rather than a doctrinal verse: it signals that Bhīṣma’s instruction on rājadharma (royal duty and ethical governance) has concluded for the chapter, framed as counsel given in response to a would-be victor’s questions.

What is happening in the narrative?

The text is marking the end of a chapter in the Śānti Parva. Bhīṣma, lying on the bed of arrows, continues to instruct the king (Yudhiṣṭhira) on righteous rule; this formula closes that chapter’s discourse.