Shloka 66
राज्ञोऽभिषेकः, अराजकदोषः, दण्डधारणस्य आवश्यकता
Royal Consecration, the Fault of Kinglessness, and the Necessity of Enforcement
इति श्रीमहा भारते शान्तिपर्वणि राजधर्मानुशासनपर्वणि चातुराश्रम्यविधौ षट्षष्टितमो5ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate śāntiparvaṇi rājadharmānuśāsanaparvaṇi cāturāśramyavidhau ṣaṭṣaṣṭitamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Thus ends the sixty-sixth chapter in the Śānti Parva of the Śrī Mahābhārata, within the section on the instruction of royal duties, specifically in the discussion of the regulations concerning the four āśramas (stages of life).
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
This line is a colophon marking the close of a chapter; it frames the teaching context as rājadharma (royal ethics and governance) and cāturāśramya-vidhi (the proper ordering of the four stages of life), implying that kingship is to be guided by dharma and by respect for the āśrama-based moral-social framework.
The text signals the end of the sixty-sixth chapter within the Śānti Parva’s rājadharma instruction. It is not a spoken narrative event but an editorial/structural closure indicating where the discussion belongs in the larger Mahābhārata.