Shloka 88
Bhagadattā’s Deployment Against Ghaṭotkaca; Elephant-Corps Escalation
इति श्रीमहा भारते भीष्मपर्वणि भीष्मवधपर्वणि सुनाभादिधृतराष्ट्रपुत्रवधे अष्टाशीतितमो<ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate bhīṣmaparvaṇi bhīṣmavadhaparvaṇi sunābhādidhṛtarāṣṭraputravadhe aṣṭāśītitamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Assim, no venerável Mahābhārata, dentro do Bhīṣma Parva—em particular, na seção referente à morte de Bhīṣma—encerra-se o octogésimo oitavo capítulo, que descreve a morte de Sunābha e de outros filhos de Dhṛtarāṣṭra. Este colofão assinala o fecho de uma unidade narrativa em que a gravidade moral da guerra é ressaltada pela queda de herdeiros reais e pelo avanço inexorável do destino no campo de batalha.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
As a colophon, the verse does not teach through direct instruction; it frames the ethical weight of the war narrative by formally closing a chapter centered on deaths among Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons, reminding the reader of the irreversible consequences of adharma-driven conflict and the tragic cost borne by royal lineages.
This is the chapter-ending colophon: Sañjaya’s narration marks the conclusion of the eighty-eighth chapter within Bhīṣma Parva, in the sub-section dealing with Bhīṣma’s slaying, and notes that the chapter’s content included the killing of Sunābha and other sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra.