Shloka 76
धृतराष्ट्र-संजय-संवादः — इरावान्-आवन्त्ययोः युद्धम्, घटोत्कच-भगदत्त-संघर्षः, मद्रेश्वर-विक्षेपः
Dhṛtarāṣṭra–Sañjaya Dialogue: Irāvān vs the Avanti princes; Ghaṭotkaca vs Bhagadatta; Śalya checked by the Mādrī twins
इति श्रीमहाभारते भीष्मपर्वणि भीष्मवधपर्वणि धृतराष्ट्रचिन्तायां षट्सप्ततितमो<्ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate bhīṣmaparvaṇi bhīṣmavadhaparvaṇi dhṛtarāṣṭracintāyāṃ ṣaṭsaptatitamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Thus, in the Śrī Mahābhārata, within the Bhīṣma Parva—specifically in the section concerning the fall of Bhīṣma—here ends the seventy-sixth chapter, centered on Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s anxious reflections. This colophon marks a pause in the narration, showing that the war’s turning point (Bhīṣma’s fall) is framed not only as a battlefield event, but also as a moral and emotional crisis for the blind king, whose attachment and partiality now ripen into dread and foreboding.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
As a colophon, the verse does not teach through direct instruction but through framing: it emphasizes that catastrophic outcomes in war are inseparable from inner states—especially a ruler’s attachment and partiality. Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s ‘cintā’ underscores the ethical burden of kingship and the karmic weight of choices that enable adharma.
This is the formal closing line of the chapter: it locates the narration within the Bhīṣma Parva, in the episode dealing with Bhīṣma’s fall, and identifies the chapter’s focus as Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s anxious reflections, as reported in the broader Sanjaya–Dhṛtarāṣṭra dialogue.