Shloka 66
Adhyāya 69: Strategic duels under Bhīṣma’s command
Virāṭa–Bhīṣma; Arjuna–Aśvatthāmā; Bhīma–Duryodhana; Abhimanyu–Lakṣmaṇa
इति श्रीमहाभारते भीष्मपर्वणि भीष्मवधपर्वणि विश्वोपाख्याने षट्षष्टितमो<ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate bhīṣmaparvaṇi bhīṣmavadhaparvaṇi viśvopākhyāne ṣaṭṣaṣṭitamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Ainsi, dans le Śrī Mahābhārata, au sein du Bhīṣma Parva—plus précisément dans la section concernant la mise à mort de Bhīṣma—s’achève le soixante-sixième (66e) chapitre du Viśvopākhyāna. Il s’agit d’un colophon marquant la clôture d’une unité narrative, situant l’épisode dans le cadre éthique de la guerre, où même la chute d’un aîné vénérable est traitée comme un événement solennel, ordonné par le texte.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
This verse is a colophon rather than a doctrinal statement; its function is to frame the narrative ethically and textually by formally closing a chapter within the war-book, reminding the reader that the account of Bhīṣma’s fall is part of an ordered transmission where even violent events are narrated with solemn structure and accountability.
The verse signals the end of a chapter: it identifies the larger book (Bhīṣma Parva), the relevant sub-episode (Bhīṣma-vadha), and the embedded narrative label (Viśvopākhyāna), concluding the sixty-sixth chapter with the standard ‘iti … adhyāyaḥ’ closure.