Shloka 164

Bhīṣma’s Appraisal of Kaurava-Aligned Mahārathas

Warrior Roster and Motivations

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते उद्योगपर्वणि उलूकदूतागमनपर्वणि सेनापतिनियोगे चतुःषष्टयधिकशततमो<ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate udyogaparvaṇi ulūkadūtāgamanaparvaṇi senāpatiniyoge catuḥṣaṣṭyadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

So endet im Śrī Mahābhārata, im Udyoga-Parva — in dem Abschnitt über das Eintreffen Ulūkas als Gesandten — und in der Begebenheit von der Einsetzung des Heerführers, das hundertvierundsechzigste Kapitel.

Word by Word

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

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

• उद्योगपर्वणि: in the Udyoga-parvan
• उद्योगपर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: उद्योगपर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• उलूकदूतागमनपर्वणि: in the section (parvan) on the coming of Uluka as envoy
• उलूकदूतागमनपर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: उलूक-दूत-आगमन-पर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• सेनापतिनियोगे: in the appointment of the commander-in-chief
• सेनापतिनियोगे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सेनापति-नियोग
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• चतुःषष्टि-अधिक-शततमः: the one hundred and sixty-fourth
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चतुःषष्टि-अधिक-शततम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

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

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Mahābhārata
• Udyoga Parva
• Ulūka
• dūta (envoy/messenger)
• senāpati (commander-in-chief)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even when diplomacy is formally pursued through envoys, ethical responsibility requires clear leadership and preparedness; the colophon highlights the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension between the duty to seek peace and the duty to act decisively when conflict becomes unavoidable.

What is happening in the narrative?

This is a concluding colophon for the chapter: it locates the chapter within Udyoga Parva, notes the sub-episode of Ulūka’s envoy-mission arrival, and indicates the context of appointing a commander (senāpati), marking the close of the 164th chapter.