Shloka 157
अध्याय १५९ — रात्रौ श्रमविरामः
Night Exhaustion and Brief Pause in Battle
इति श्रीमहाभारते द्रोणपर्वणि घटोत्कचवधपर्वणि रात्रियुद्धे द्रोणयुधिष्ठिरयुद्धे सप्तपञ्चाशदधिकशततमो<ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate droṇaparvaṇi ghaṭotkacavadhaparvaṇi rātriyuddhe droṇayudhiṣṭhirayuddhe saptapañcāśad-adhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Sañjaya berkata: Demikianlah, dalam Śrī Mahābhārata pada Droṇa Parva—di bagian pembunuhan Ghaṭotkaca—dalam pertempuran malam, pada kisah laga Droṇa melawan Yudhiṣṭhira, berakhirlah adhyāya ke-157.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
This line is a colophon marking the close of a chapter and locating it within the epic’s nested structure (parva → sub-parvan → episode). Ethically, it reminds the reader that the war narrative is organized around pivotal acts (like Ghaṭotkaca’s death) and key confrontations (Droṇa vs. Yudhiṣṭhira), highlighting how duty, strategy, and consequence are tracked and remembered.
The text is not a battle-verse but an editorial/narrative closure: Sañjaya signals that the chapter ends here, situating it in Droṇa Parva, within the Ghaṭotkaca-slaying section, during the night-fighting, and specifically in the episode concerning the combat between Droṇa and Yudhiṣṭhira.