Shloka 154
उपायैः पूर्ववधकथनम् / Strategic Justifications for Prior Eliminations
इति श्रीमहाभारते द्रोणपर्वणि घटोत्कचवधपर्वणि रात्रियुद्धे चतुष्पड्चाशदधिकशततमोड्ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate droṇaparvaṇi ghaṭotkacavadhaparvaṇi rātriyuddhe catuṣpaṇcāśad-adhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ
So wird im Śrī Mahābhārata, innerhalb der Droṇa-Parva—insbesondere im Abschnitt über die Tötung Ghaṭotkacas und die Nachtschlacht—das hundertsechsundfünfzigste Kapitel beschlossen. Der Kolophon rahmt die Begebenheit als moralisch aufgeladenen Wendepunkt: Der Krieg setzt sich über das Tageslicht hinaus in ein nächtliches Gefecht fort, und außergewöhnliche Mittel sowie eskalierende Gewalt gestalten die ethische Landschaft des Konflikts neu.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
As a colophon, the verse does not teach through direct instruction; it frames the episode’s ethical weight by naming it as the slaying of Ghaṭotkaca and a night-battle. The implied lesson is that when war crosses into the night and relies on exceptional tactics, the struggle intensifies and the boundaries of righteous conduct (dharma) become harder to maintain.
This is the chapter-ending colophon: it signals that the account belongs to the Droṇa Parva, within the episode of Ghaṭotkaca’s death, set amid the night-fighting, and it closes the 156th chapter.