Shloka 159

अजिशीर्षे प्रातःसंध्यायां संग्रामवर्णनम् / Dawn-Transition Battle at Ajiśīrṣa

Chapter 161

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहा भारते द्रोणपर्वणि घटोत्कचवधपर्वणि रात्रियुद्धे दुर्योधनवाक्ये एकोनषष्ट्यधिकशततमो<ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate droṇaparvaṇi ghaṭotkacavadhaparvaṇi rātriyuddhe duryodhanavākye ekonaṣaṣṭyadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

وهكذا، في المهابهارتا المقدّسة، ضمن «دروṇa پرفا»—في فصل مقتل غهاṭوتكچا، أثناء قتال الليل—تَرِدُ كلماتُ دوريودhana، وبها يُختَتَم الفصل الحادي والستون بعد المئة.

Word by Word

इतिthus; so

श्रीglory; auspiciousness; honorific 'Śrī'

महाin the great (work)

भारतेin the Bhārata (Mahābhārata)

द्रोणपर्वणिin the Droṇa-parvan

घटोत्कचवधपर्वणिin the sub-parvan (section) on the slaying of Ghaṭotkaca

रात्रियुद्धेin the night-battle

दुर्योधनवाक्येin (the section of) Duryodhana's speech/words

एकोनषष्ट्यधिकशततमःthe one-hundred-and-sixty-first (chapter)

अध्यायःchapter

Speaker

दुर्योधन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mahābhārata

Droṇa Parva

Ghaṭotkaca

Duryodhana

Rātriyuddha (night-battle)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

This line functions as a colophon rather than a moral injunction: it frames the episode within the epic’s structure, reminding the reader that the night-battle and Ghaṭotkaca’s death are pivotal narrative moments where strategy, desperation, and the ethical strain of warfare intensify.

What is happening in the narrative?

The text is closing/marking the chapter in the Droṇa Parva during the night-fighting sequence, in the subsection dealing with Ghaṭotkaca’s slaying, and it identifies the preceding passage as Duryodhana’s words.