Shloka 33
Abhimanyu-śravaṇa-prastāva and Cakravyūha-vinyāsa
Prelude to Abhimanyu’s Account and the Wheel-Formation Deployment
इति श्रीमहाभारते द्रोणपर्वणि अभिमन्युवधपर्वणि अभिमन्युवधसंक्षेपकथने त्रयस्त्रिंशो 5ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate droṇaparvaṇi abhimanyuvadhaparvaṇi abhimanyuvadhasaṃkṣepakathane trayastriṃśo 'dhyāyaḥ
Thus, in the Śrī Mahābhārata, within the Droṇa Parva, in the section concerning the slaying of Abhimanyu, in the concise narration of Abhimanyu’s death, ends the thirty-third chapter. (This is a colophon marking the close of the chapter rather than a spoken narrative verse.)
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
As a colophon, the line itself teaches no new doctrine; it frames the episode as a completed unit. Ethically, it signals the closure of a tragic wartime account—Abhimanyu’s slaying—inviting reflection on how adharma can manifest in war and how narrative tradition marks and preserves such moral turning points.
This is the formal closing statement of the chapter: it identifies the larger book (Droṇa Parva), the relevant sub-section (Abhimanyu’s slaying), and notes that the thirty-third chapter—presenting a concise account of Abhimanyu’s death—has ended.