Shloka 52
Saubhadra under Concentrated Assault; Pārṣata’s Intervention and Escalation
इस प्रकार श्रीमह्या भारत भीष्मपर्वके अन्तर्गत भीष्मवधपर्वमें भीष्म और अजुनिका युद्धविषयक बावनवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ
iti prakāraḥ śrīmahābhārate bhīṣmaparvaṇi antaragate bhīṣmavadhaparvaṇi bhīṣma-arjunayor yuddhaviṣayakaḥ dvipañcāśattamo 'dhyāyaḥ pūrṇaḥ
Sañjaya said: Thus ends the fifty-second chapter of the Bhīṣma Parva of the Śrī Mahābhārata, within the section concerning the slaying of Bhīṣma, describing the battle between Bhīṣma and Arjuna. This closing colophon frames the episode as a decisive ethical turning-point in the war, where duty and strategy converge around the fall of a revered elder-warrior.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
As a colophon, the verse does not teach a doctrine directly; it signals that the narrative focus is the ethically charged confrontation between Bhīṣma and Arjuna, a moment where loyalty to one’s side, reverence for elders, and the demands of righteous warfare (dharma-yuddha) come into tension.
Sañjaya marks the completion of the chapter describing the battle between Bhīṣma and Arjuna, situated within the Bhīṣma Parva and specifically within the subsection dealing with Bhīṣma’s fall/slaying.