Shloka 56
Night Vigil and Kṛṣṇa’s Instructions to Dāruka (निशि प्रजागरः—दारुकानुशासनम्)
इति श्रीमहा भारते द्रोणपर्वणि अभिमन्युवधपर्वणि षोडशराजकीये षट्पञज्चाशत्तमो<ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate droṇaparvaṇi abhimanyuvadhaparvaṇi ṣoḍaśarājakīye ṣaṭpañcāśattamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Thus, in the revered Mahābhārata, within the Droṇa Parva—specifically in the section concerning the slaying of Abhimanyu—ends the fifty-sixth chapter, belonging to the narrative unit known as the “Sixteen Kings” episode. This is the formal colophon marking the close of the chapter.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
As a colophon, the verse does not teach through direct instruction; instead it frames the ethical weight of the surrounding narrative—Abhimanyu’s death in war—by formally closing the chapter and reminding the reader that events are embedded within a larger dharma-discourse of the Mahābhārata.
This line marks the end of the fifty-sixth chapter of the Droṇa Parva, located in the Abhimanyu-slaying episode. It is a structural closing formula rather than spoken dialogue, used to identify the text’s placement and the chapter’s completion.