Shloka 178

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते द्रोणपर्वणि घटोत्कचवधपर्वणि रात्रियुद्धेबलायुधवधे5ष्टसप्तत्यधिकशततमो< ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate droṇaparvaṇi ghaṭotkacavadhaparvaṇi rātriyuddhe balāyudhavadhe aṣṭasaptatyadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

So endet im Śrī Mahābhārata, innerhalb des Droṇa-Parva—insbesondere im Abschnitt über die Tötung Ghaṭotkacas—hier das hundertachtundsiebzigste Kapitel, das die nächtliche Schlacht und die Tötung Balāyudhas schildert. Dieser Kolophon schließt eine Erzähleinheit ab und betont, wie die moralische Ordnung des Krieges im Nachtkampf weiter verfällt, da Täuschung und außergewöhnliche Waffen zunehmend den offenen, dem Dharma entsprechenden Kampf verdrängen.

Word by Word

इतिthus; so (end-quotation marker)

श्रीमहाभारतेin the (holy) Mahābhārata

द्रोणपर्वणिin the Droṇa-parvan

घटोत्कचवधपर्वणिin the sub-parvan on the slaying of Ghaṭotkaca

रात्रियुद्धेin the night-battle

बलायुधवधेin the slaying of Balāyudha

अष्टसप्तत्यधिकशततमःthe one-hundred-and-seventy-eighth (chapter)

अध्यायःchapter

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Mahābhārata

Droṇa Parva

Ghaṭotkaca

Balāyudha

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?

As a colophon, the verse does not teach through direct instruction; it frames the episode’s ethical atmosphere: the shift to night-fighting signals a weakening of conventional dharma in war, where fear, urgency, and extraordinary means begin to dominate over transparent, rule-bound combat.

What is happening in the narrative?

The line functions as an editorial/narrative closure: it announces that, within the Droṇa Parva and the Ghaṭotkaca-slaying episode, the 178th chapter—centered on the night-battle and the killing of Balāyudha—has ended.