Shloka 66
Adhyāya 70: Sātyaki’s Arrow-Display and the Bhūriśravas Engagement; Twilight Withdrawal
इस प्रकार श्रीमहा भारत भीष्मपर्वके अन्तर्गत भीष्मवधपर्वमें विश्वोपाख्यानविषयक छाछठवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ
iti prakāraṁ śrīmahābhārate bhīṣmaparvaṇi antargate bhīṣmavadhaparvaṇi viśvopākhyāna-viṣayakaḥ ṣaṭṣaṣṭitamo 'dhyāyaḥ pūrṇaḥ
Thus ends the sixty-sixth chapter, dealing with the Viśvopākhyāna, within the Bhīṣmavadha section of the Bhīṣma Parva of the sacred Mahābhārata. This closing colophon marks the completion of a narrative unit situated in the moral and strategic tensions of the Kurukṣetra war, where the fall of Bhīṣma frames reflections on duty, counsel, and the consequences of righteous and unrighteous action.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
This line is a colophon rather than a doctrinal verse: it teaches how the epic is organized into parvas and sub-sections, and it signals closure of a thematic unit. In context, such closures frame the war narrative with reminders of order, continuity, and the ethical weight carried by the episodes surrounding Bhīṣma’s fall.
The text is marking the completion of the sixty-sixth chapter focused on the Viśvopākhyāna episode, situated within the Bhīṣmavadha section of the Bhīṣma Parva. It functions as an editorial/narrative boundary rather than describing an action within the story.