Shloka 164
Aśvatthāmā’s Lamentation, Vow of Retaliation, and the Manifestation of the Nārāyaṇāstra (द्रोणपर्व, अध्याय १६६)
इति श्रीमहाभारते द्रोणपर्वणि घटोत्कचवधपर्वणि रात्रियुद्धे संकुलयुद्धे चतुःषष्ट्यधिकशततमो<ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate droṇaparvaṇi ghaṭotkacavadhaparvaṇi rātriyuddhe saṅkulayuddhe catuḥṣaṣṭyadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ
So endet im Śrī Mahābhārata, innerhalb des Droṇa Parva—insbesondere im Abschnitt über die Tötung Ghaṭotkacas—dieses hundertvierundsechzigste Kapitel, das die Nachtschlacht und das verworrene, dicht verstrickte Ringen schildert. Der Kolophon markiert die moralische Atmosphäre der Erzählung: Der Krieg ist in Dunkelheit und Unordnung hinübergeglitten, wo die Klarheit des Dharma bis an die Grenze gespannt wird und der Preis des Sieges an immer verzweifelteren, immer härteren Mitteln gemessen wird.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
As a colophon, the verse does not teach through direct instruction but through framing: it highlights that the war has entered a night-battle and a chaotic melee, suggesting a moral and strategic descent where ordinary restraints weaken and the burden of adharma-like methods increases.
This is the closing marker of a chapter in the Droṇa Parva, within the episode of Ghaṭotkaca’s death. It signals that the chapter’s events concern fighting at night and a confused, densely entangled battle, and it formally concludes the chapter count.