Shloka 172
इस प्रकार श्रीमह्ाा भारत द्रोणपर्वके अन्तर्गत घटोत्कचवधपर्वमें यात्रियुद्धके अवसरपर संकुलयुद्धविषयक एक सौ बहत्तरवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ
Iti prakāraṃ śrīmahābhārate Droṇaparvake antargata Ghaṭotkacavadhaparvaṇi yātriyuddhasya avasare saṅkulayuddhaviṣayaka ekaśatadvā-saptatitamo 'dhyāyaḥ pūrṇaḥ.
Sanjaya concludes by marking the end of a chapter within the Drona Parva of the great Mahabharata: in the section describing the slaying of Ghaṭotkaca, at the time of the so-called ‘yātrā-battle,’ this chapter dealing with the confusion and crush of battle is now complete. The closing formula frames the war not as mere spectacle but as a morally charged, chaotic arena where duty, strategy, and destruction converge.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
As a colophon-style closure, the passage does not teach a doctrine directly; it emphasizes that the war narrative is organized into thematic units, here highlighting the moral and practical reality of battle as ‘saṅkula’—confused and crushing—where choices and consequences unfold under extreme pressure.
Sañjaya signals the completion of a chapter in the Droṇa Parva, specifically within the sub-section describing the slaying of Ghaṭotkaca, noting that this chapter’s focus was the melee-like, congested nature of the fighting during the yātrā-battle occasion.