Shloka 168

भीष्मकृतः पाण्डवपक्ष-महारथ-प्रशंसा

Bhishma’s appraisal of Pandava-aligned chariot-warriors

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते उद्योगपर्वणि रथातिरथसंख्यानपर्वणि भीष्मकर्णसंवादे अष्टषष्ट्यधिकशततमो<ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate udyogaparvaṇi rathātirathasaṅkhyānaparvaṇi bhīṣmakarṇasaṃvāde aṣṭaṣaṣṭyadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

یوں شری مہابھارت کے اُدیَوگ پَرو میں، رتھاتیرتھ-سنکھیان پَرو کے ضمن میں، بھیشم-کرن مکالمے میں، ایک سو اٹھاسٹھواں اَدھیائے اختتام پذیر ہوا۔

Word by Word

• इति: thus; so (end-quotation marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति

• श्रीमहाभारते: in the Śrī-Mahābhārata
• श्रीमहाभारते: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्रीमहाभारत
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• उद्योगपर्वणि: in the Udyoga-parvan
• उद्योगपर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: उद्योगपर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• रथातिरथसंख्यानपर्वणि: in the (sub-)parvan called 'Enumeration of rathas and atirathas'
• रथातिरथसंख्यानपर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: रथातिरथसंख्यानपर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• भीष्मकर्णसंवादे: in the dialogue of Bhīṣma and Karṇa
• भीष्मकर्णसंवादे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भीष्मकर्णसंवाद
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• अष्टषष्ट्यधिकशततमः: the one hundred and sixty-eighth
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अष्टषष्ट्यधिकशततम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अध्यायः: chapter
• अध्यायः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अध्याय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śrī Mahābhārata
• Udyoga Parva
• Rathātirathasaṅkhyāna Parva
• Bhīṣma
• Karṇa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Though this line is a colophon rather than a doctrinal verse, it highlights a key Mahābhārata concern: before war, leaders must realistically assess strength and responsibility. Enumerating rathas/atirathas is not mere boasting—it underscores accountability, the weight of command decisions, and the ethical gravity of unleashing violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

The text marks the close of a chapter in the Udyoga Parva within the Bhīṣma–Karṇa conversation, situated in the section that counts and classifies elite chariot-warriors. It functions as an editorial/narrative boundary indicating that the preceding discussion belongs to this strategic catalogue in the run-up to the great war.