Shloka 52
कृष्णेन अर्जुनस्य प्रोत्साहनम् — Kṛṣṇa’s Exhortation to Arjuna
Prelude to Karṇa’s Slaying
इति श्रीमहाभारते कर्णपर्वणि संकुलयुद्धे द्विपञ्चाशत्तमो5ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate karṇaparvaṇi saṅkulayuddhe dvi-pañcāśattamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Thus ends the fifty-second chapter, titled “The Confused (Tumultuous) Battle,” in the Karṇa Parva of the sacred Mahābhārata. This closing colophon signals a completed narrative unit within the war account, marking the transition to the next phase of events and underscoring the epic’s careful structuring of the ethical and historical record of the conflict.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
This line is a colophon rather than a doctrinal verse. Its value is structural and ethical-historiographical: it frames the war narrative as a carefully preserved record, reminding the reader that the epic’s depiction of conflict is organized into accountable units—inviting reflection on how chaos in war (“saṅkula”) is still narrated with order and responsibility.
The text is concluding a chapter: it announces that the fifty-second chapter, themed around a tumultuous or entangled battle, has ended within the Karṇa Parva. It functions as a formal closure before the narration proceeds to the next chapter’s events.