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Shloka 96

Adharmic Victory as Unstable; Rules of Restraint, Mediation, and Conciliation (अधर्मविजय-अध्रुवत्व तथा क्षमा-नयः)

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहा भारते शान्तिपर्वणि राजधर्मानुशासनपर्वणि विजिगीषमाणपृत्ते षण्णवतितमो<ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate śāntiparvaṇi rājadharmānuśāsanaparvaṇi vijigīṣamāṇapṛtte ṣaṇṇavatitamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

इति श्रीमहाभारते शान्तिपर्वणि राजधर्मानुशासनपर्वणि विजिगीषमाणपृष्टे षण्णवतितमोऽध्यायः समाप्तः।

Word by Word

इतिthus; end-quote marker

श्रीglory; auspiciousness; honorific 'śrī'

महाभारतेin the Mahābhārata

शान्तिपर्वणिin the Śānti-parvan

राजधर्मानुशासनपर्वणिin the 'Instruction on the Duties of Kings' parvan (section)

विजिगीषमाणपृष्टेin (the section) 'when asked by one desiring to conquer'

षण्णवतितमःninety-sixth

अध्यायःchapter

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mahābhārata

Śānti Parva

Rājadharmānuśāsana Parva

Bhīṣma

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?

This line is a colophon rather than a doctrinal verse: it signals that Bhīṣma’s instruction on rājadharma (royal duty and ethical governance) has concluded for the chapter, framed as counsel given in response to a would-be victor’s questions.

What is happening in the narrative?

The text is marking the end of a chapter in the Śānti Parva. Bhīṣma, lying on the bed of arrows, continues to instruct the king (Yudhiṣṭhira) on righteous rule; this formula closes that chapter’s discourse.