Shloka 271
इन्द्रजिद्-लक्ष्मणयुद्धम्
Indrajit and Lakṣmaṇa: Escalation through Concealment
इति श्रीमहा भारते वनपर्वणि द्रौपदीहरणपर्वणि जयद्रथपलायने एकसप्तत्यधिकद्वधिशततमो<5ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate vanaparvaṇi draupadīharaṇaparvaṇi jayadrathapalāyane ekasaptatyadhikadvāśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Thus ends, in the revered Mahābhārata, within the Vana Parva, in the section concerning the abduction of Draupadī, the chapter on Jayadratha’s flight—being the two-hundred-and-seventy-second chapter.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
As a chapter-colophon, the verse signals closure and implicitly highlights ethical causality: adharma—here framed by the abduction of Draupadī—culminates in fear and flight (Jayadratha’s retreat), while dharma is upheld through rightful opposition and the restoration of moral order.
This is the formal concluding line of the chapter: it identifies the text (Mahābhārata), the book (Vana Parva), the specific episode (Draupadī’s abduction), and the immediate outcome-theme (Jayadratha’s flight), and states that this is the 272nd chapter.