Shloka 154
उपायैः पूर्ववधकथनम् / Strategic Justifications for Prior Eliminations
इति श्रीमहाभारते द्रोणपर्वणि घटोत्कचवधपर्वणि रात्रियुद्धे चतुष्पड्चाशदधिकशततमोड्ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate droṇaparvaṇi ghaṭotkacavadhaparvaṇi rātriyuddhe catuṣpaṇcāśad-adhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Ainsi, dans le Śrī Mahābhārata, au sein du Droṇa Parva—plus précisément dans la section décrivant la mise à mort de Ghaṭotkaca et le combat nocturne—s’achève le cent cinquante-sixième chapitre. Le colophon présente l’épisode comme un tournant lourd d’enjeux moraux : la guerre se prolonge au-delà du jour, jusque dans l’affrontement de nuit, et des moyens extraordinaires, avec une violence croissante, remodèlent le paysage éthique du conflit.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
As a colophon, the verse does not teach through direct instruction; it frames the episode’s ethical weight by naming it as the slaying of Ghaṭotkaca and a night-battle. The implied lesson is that when war crosses into the night and relies on exceptional tactics, the struggle intensifies and the boundaries of righteous conduct (dharma) become harder to maintain.
This is the chapter-ending colophon: it signals that the account belongs to the Droṇa Parva, within the episode of Ghaṭotkaca’s death, set amid the night-fighting, and it closes the 156th chapter.