Shloka 97
अध्याय ९९ — युयुधान-दुःशासन-युद्धम्
Chapter 99: Sātyaki and Duḥśāsana’s engagement
इति श्रीमहाभारते द्रोणपर्वणि जयद्रथवधपर्वणि द्रोणधृष्टझुम्नयुद्धे सप्तनवतितमो<ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate droṇaparvaṇi jayadrathavadhaparvaṇi droṇadhṛṣṭadyumnayuddhe saptanavatitamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Sanjaya said: “Thus, in the Śrī Mahābhārata, within the Droṇa Parva, in the section concerning the slaying of Jayadratha, in the account of the battle between Droṇa and Dhṛṣṭadyumna, ends the ninety-seventh chapter.” This is a colophon marking the close of a chapter, situating the narrative within the larger ethical and martial arc of the war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
This verse is a colophon rather than a doctrinal statement: it teaches how the Mahābhārata frames events within nested narrative units (parva, sub-parva, battle episode). Ethically, such framing reminds the reader that acts of war are not isolated—each episode belongs to a larger chain of causes, vows, and responsibilities that the epic evaluates through the lens of dharma.
The text signals the end of a chapter in the Droṇa Parva, specifically within the Jayadratha-slaying section, and within the account of the combat between Droṇa and Dhṛṣṭadyumna. It functions as an editorial/narrative marker: “here ends the ninety-seventh chapter,” helping locate the reader in the unfolding Kurukṣetra war narrative.