Shloka 108

Adhyāya 111 (Book 6): Daśama-dina-saṃgrāma—Bhīṣma’s Counsel to Yudhiṣṭhira and the Śikhaṇḍin-Led Advance

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते भीष्मपर्वणि भीष्मवधपर्वणि भीष्मशिखण्डीसमागमे अष्टाधिकशततमो<ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate bhīṣmaparvaṇi bhīṣmavadhaparvaṇi bhīṣmaśikhaṇḍīsamāgame aṣṭādhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

अशा प्रकारे श्रीमहाभारतात भीष्मपर्वात, भीष्मवधपर्वात, भीष्म-शिखंडी-समागम प्रसंगात एकशे आठवा अध्याय समाप्त झाला.

Word by Word

इतिthus; end-quote marker

श्रीमहाभारतेin the Śrī-Mahābhārata

भीष्मपर्वणिin the Bhīṣma-parvan

भीष्मवधपर्वणिin the section (parvan) on the slaying of Bhīṣma

भीष्मशिखण्डीसमागमेin the meeting/encounter of Bhīṣma and Śikhaṇḍī

अष्टाधिकशततमःone hundred and eighth

अध्यायःchapter

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mahābhārata

Bhīṣma Parva

Bhīṣma

Śikhaṇḍī

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even a chapter-ending colophon underscores a key Mahābhārata lesson: in war, outcomes are not only tactical but moral—shaped by vows, prior causes, and ethical constraints. Bhīṣma’s impending fall is presented as a dharma-laden event rather than mere defeat.

What is happening in the narrative?

This line is a formal colophon concluding a chapter/episode: it situates the text within Bhīṣma Parva and specifically the episode of Bhīṣma’s slaying, highlighting the encounter between Bhīṣma and Śikhaṇḍī as the focal narrative moment.