Shloka 159
Ulūka’s Provocative Envoy-Speech in the Pāṇḍava Camp
Ulūka-dūta-vākya
इति श्रीमहाभारते उद्योगपर्वणि सैन्यनिर्याणपर्वणि संजयवाक्ये एकोनषष्ट्यधिकशततमो<ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate udyogaparvaṇi sainyaniryāṇaparvaṇi sañjayavākye ekonaṣaṣṭyadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Ainsi, dans le vénérable Mahābhārata, au sein de l’Udyoga Parva—plus précisément dans la section consacrée à la mise en marche des armées—s’achève le cent cinquante-neuvième chapitre, constitué du récit de Sañjaya. Ce colophon marque la clôture d’une unité narrative et souligne la transition solennelle : le conflit passe du conseil et des préparatifs à la guerre ouverte.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
This is a colophon rather than a doctrinal verse: it teaches attentiveness to textual framing—how epic narration formally signals closure and transition. Ethically, it highlights that the phase of deliberation and mobilization is concluding, implying that choices made in counsel now harden into consequences on the battlefield.
The chapter concludes. The text identifies the larger book (Udyoga Parva), the internal section (the mobilization/departure of armies), and the speaker (Sañjaya), and then marks that this is the 159th chapter—functioning as an editorial/narrative boundary before the next unit begins.