Shloka 166
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 165 — Bhīṣma’s Appraisal and Karṇa’s Rebuttal (भीष्म–कर्ण विवादः)
इति श्रीमहाभारते उद्योगपर्वणि रथातिरथसंख्यानपर्वणि षट्षष्टयधिकशततमो<ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate udyogaparvaṇi rathātirathasaṅkhyānaparvaṇi ṣaṭṣaṣṭyadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Thus, in the Śrī Mahābhārata, within the Udyoga Parva, in the section entitled “The Enumeration of Chariot-warriors and Great Chariot-warriors,” the one hundred and sixty-sixth chapter comes to its close.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
This line is a colophon rather than a doctrinal verse; its function is to frame the narrative within the epic’s structure. By naming the parva and sub-parvan, it underscores that the ethical crisis is moving from counsel and diplomacy toward organized war, where the assessment of warriors’ capacities becomes part of the unfolding dharmic conflict.
The text is marking the end of a chapter in the Udyoga Parva, specifically within the section that enumerates and classifies warriors (rathas and atirathas). It is a formal closure statement indicating where the reader is in the Mahābhārata’s progression toward the Kurukṣetra war.