Shloka 66
Adhyāya 69: Strategic duels under Bhīṣma’s command
Virāṭa–Bhīṣma; Arjuna–Aśvatthāmā; Bhīma–Duryodhana; Abhimanyu–Lakṣmaṇa
इति श्रीमहाभारते भीष्मपर्वणि भीष्मवधपर्वणि विश्वोपाख्याने षट्षष्टितमो<ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate bhīṣmaparvaṇi bhīṣmavadhaparvaṇi viśvopākhyāne ṣaṭṣaṣṭitamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Kaya nito, sa Śrī Mahābhārata, sa loob ng Bhīṣma Parva—lalo na sa bahaging tumatalakay sa pagkakapatay kay Bhīṣma—nagtatapos ang ika-animnapu’t anim (66) na kabanata ng Viśvopākhyāna. Ito ay isang kolopon na nagmamarka ng pagsasara ng isang yunit ng salaysay, inilalagay ang pangyayaring ito sa mas malawak na balangkas ng dharma ng digmaan, kung saan maging ang pagbagsak ng iginagalang na nakatatanda ay itinatala nang taimtim at ayon sa kaayusan ng teksto.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
This verse is a colophon rather than a doctrinal statement; its function is to frame the narrative ethically and textually by formally closing a chapter within the war-book, reminding the reader that the account of Bhīṣma’s fall is part of an ordered transmission where even violent events are narrated with solemn structure and accountability.
The verse signals the end of a chapter: it identifies the larger book (Bhīṣma Parva), the relevant sub-episode (Bhīṣma-vadha), and the embedded narrative label (Viśvopākhyāna), concluding the sixty-sixth chapter with the standard ‘iti … adhyāyaḥ’ closure.