Shloka 54
इस प्रकार श्रीमह्मा भारत भीष्मपर्वके अन्तर्गत भीष्मवधपर्वमें द्वितीय दिनके युद्धमें कलिंगराजका वधविषयक चौवनवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ
iti prakāraṁ śrīmahābhārate bhīṣmaparvake antargataṁ bhīṣmavadhaparvaṇi dvitīya-dinake yuddhe kaliṅgarājasya vadha-viṣayakaḥ catuḥpañcāśattamo ’dhyāyaḥ pūrṇaḥ
इति श्रीमहाभारते भीष्मपर्वणि भीष्मवधपर्वणि द्वितीययुद्धदिवसे कलिङ्गराजवधविषयकश्चतुश्चत्वारिंशत्तमोऽध्यायः समाप्तः।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
This verse is a colophon marking the end of a chapter; its implicit lesson is that the epic treats war and death as morally significant events to be recorded with clarity and accountability, segmenting the narrative so each act—such as a king’s slaying—stands as a distinct ethical and historical moment within the larger catastrophe.
Sanjaya closes the chapter by stating that the fifty-fourth chapter has ended, and that it concerned the killing of the king of Kalinga during the second day of the Kurukshetra war, within the Bhishma Parva and the Bhishma-slaying section.