Shloka 137
रात्रौ युद्धप्रवृत्तिः — Night Battle Begins; Duryodhana’s Protective Orders for Droṇa
Droṇa-parva 139
इति श्रीमहाभारते द्रोणपर्वणि जयद्रथवधपर्वणि भीमयुद्धे सप्तत्रिंशदधिकशततमो<ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate droṇaparvaṇi jayadrathavadhaparvaṇi bhīmayuddhe saptatriṃśad-adhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Sanjaya said: Thus, in the holy Mahābhārata, within the Droṇa Parva—specifically in the section concerning the slaying of Jayadratha—this concludes the one-hundred-and-thirty-seventh chapter, describing the battle involving Bhīma. The colophon frames the episode as part of the larger moral tragedy of war, where personal valor and vengeance unfold within the inexorable movement of fate and duty on the battlefield.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
As a colophon, the verse primarily teaches how the epic frames events within layered narrative structures (parva, upaparva, episode). Ethically, it reminds the reader that individual combats (like Bhīma’s) are not isolated feats but parts of a wider dharmic and fateful sequence culminating in major vows and consequences (here, the Jayadratha episode).
This is the closing formula for the chapter: it locates the just-told events within Droṇa Parva, inside the Jayadratha-slaying section, and identifies the chapter as centered on Bhīma’s fighting. It signals the end of the 137th chapter in that sequence.