Shloka 71
समन्तपञ्चक-आख्यानम् तथा अक्षौहिणी-प्रमाणनिर्णयः
Samantapañcaka Narrative and the Measure of an Akṣauhiṇī
कर्णपर्व ततो ज्ञेयं शल्यपर्व ततः परम् । ह्नदप्रवेशनं पर्व गदायुद्धमत: परम्,फिर कर्णपर्व और उसके बाद शल्यपर्व है। इसी पर्वमें हृदप्रवेश और गदायुद्धपर्व भी हैं
karṇaparva tato jñeyaṃ śalyaparva tataḥ param | hradapraveśanaṃ parva gadāyuddham ataḥ param ||
Next, one should understand the Karṇa Parva; after that comes the Śalya Parva. Thereafter are the sections known as ‘Entering the Lake’ and ‘The Club-Fight.’
राम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse primarily functions as a structural guide, but its ethical resonance lies in how the epic frames the war’s closing movements: leadership shifts (Karṇa, then Śalya), concealment and desperation (entering the lake), and the final duel (mace-fight). Together they foreshadow how adharma-driven conflict narrows into personal vengeance and morally fraught endings.
The speaker is enumerating the upcoming parvas/sections: after the Karṇa Parva comes the Śalya Parva, followed by the episode of entering the lake and then the mace duel. This is a roadmap of the epic’s later war narrative, pointing toward the final confrontations.