Shloka 40
इस प्रकार श्रीमहाभारत द्रोणपर्वके अन्तर्गत अभिमन्युवधपर्वमें कर्ण तथा दुःशायनकी पराजयविषयक चालीसवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ
iti prakāraṃ śrīmahābhārata-droṇaparvake antargata-abhimanyuvadhaparvaṇi karṇa-tathā duḥśāyana-parājaya-viṣayaka cāliśattamo 'dhyāyaḥ pūrṇaḥ
Sanjaya said: Thus ends the fortieth chapter of the Abhimanyu-vadha section within the Droṇa Parva of the Śrī Mahābhārata, dealing with the defeat of Karṇa and Duḥśāyana. This closing colophon marks a narrative turning point in the war: the momentum of battle shifts through reversals of fortune, reminding the listener that prowess and pride are repeatedly tested against fate, strategy, and the moral weight of one’s actions in a dharma-fractured conflict.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
As a colophon, the verse does not teach through direct instruction but through framing: it highlights the epic’s moral landscape where victory and defeat are unstable, and where martial power is inseparable from the ethical consequences of choices made in a war marked by contested dharma.
This is the formal closing statement for the chapter: it announces that the fortieth chapter of the Abhimanyu-vadha section within Droṇa Parva has concluded, and that its subject was the defeat of Karṇa and Duḥśāyana.