Shloka 53
Saubhadra under Concentrated Assault; Pārṣata’s Intervention and Escalation
इति श्रीमहा भारते भीष्मपर्वणि भीष्मवधपर्वणि धृष्टट्युम्नद्रोणयुद्धे त्रिपड्चाशत्तमो5ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate bhīṣmaparvaṇi bhīṣmavadhaparvaṇi dhṛṣṭadyumnadroṇayuddhe tripañcāśattamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Thus ends the fifty-third chapter in the Bhīṣma Parvan of the Śrī Mahābhārata, within the section concerning the slaying of Bhīṣma, describing the battle between Dhṛṣṭadyumna and Droṇa. The colophon marks a transition in the war narrative, underscoring the epic’s ethical tension: even the fall of revered elders and the clash of great teachers and warriors unfold under the inexorable demands of kṣatriya-duty and the tragic costs of dharma in wartime.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
As a colophon, the verse does not teach through direct instruction; it frames the narrative ethically by highlighting that the war’s decisive events—such as Bhīṣma’s fall and the clash of eminent figures like Droṇa and Dhṛṣṭadyumna—occur within the contested terrain of dharma, where duty, loyalty, and the costs of violence are continually weighed.
This is the chapter-ending colophon: it announces that the fifty-third chapter has concluded in the Bhīṣma Parvan, specifically within the portion dealing with Bhīṣma’s slaying/fall, and it identifies the chapter’s focus as the battle between Dhṛṣṭadyumna and Droṇa.