Shloka 163
भीष्मस्य सेनापत्यप्रतिज्ञा तथा रथसंख्यावर्णनम् | Bhishma Accepts Command and Enumerates Kaurava Strength
इति श्रीमहा भारते उद्योगपर्वणि उलूकदूतागमनपर्वणि उलूकापयाने त्रिषष्टयधिकशततमो< ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate udyogaparvaṇi ulūkadūtāgamanaparvaṇi ulūkāpāyāne triṣaṣṭyadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ |
इति श्रीमहाभारते उद्योगपर्वणि उलूकदूतागमनपर्वणि उलूकापयाने त्रिषष्ट्यधिकशततमोऽध्यायः समाप्तः।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
As a colophon, the verse’s function is to close an episode: it implicitly highlights how diplomacy (dūta-vākya) is ethically weighty—when counsel fails and parties cling to pride and hostility, the path toward righteous settlement narrows and conflict becomes imminent.
This is the formal end-of-chapter statement: it announces that, within Udyoga Parva, the portion about Ulūka’s envoy mission and his return/departure has concluded, completing the 163rd chapter of that internal division.