Shloka 188
Ambā’s Vow of Tapas after Paraśurāma’s Assessment (अम्बाया तपोव्रतनिश्चयः)
इति श्रीमहाभारते उद्योगपर्वणि अम्बोपाख्यानपर्वणि शिखण्ड्युत्पत्तौ अष्टाशीत्यधिकशततमो< ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate udyogaparvaṇi ambopākhyānaparvaṇi śikhaṇḍyutpattau aṣṭāśītyadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Bhishma concludes: “Thus, in the Śrī Mahābhārata, within the Udyoga Parva, in the section known as the Amba-upākhyāna, the one-hundred-and-eighty-eighth chapter—concerning the birth and emergence of Śikhaṇḍī—comes to an end.” This colophon marks the close of the episode that frames questions of justice, vow-bound duty, and the long moral consequences of injury and humiliation carried across lives.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The colophon closes the Ambā–Śikhaṇḍī cycle, underscoring how actions bound to pride, coercion, and rigid vows can generate enduring moral consequences. It points to the Mahābhārata’s ethical tension between personal vows (like Bhīṣma’s) and the broader demands of justice and compassion.
This is the formal end-of-chapter marker: Bhīṣma’s narration concludes the chapter dealing with Śikhaṇḍī’s origin within the Ambā episode, situated in the Udyoga Parva as the war’s causes and key destinies are being explained.