Shloka 178

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते द्रोणपर्वणि घटोत्कचवधपर्वणि रात्रियुद्धेबलायुधवधे5ष्टसप्तत्यधिकशततमो< ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate droṇaparvaṇi ghaṭotkacavadhaparvaṇi rātriyuddhe balāyudhavadhe aṣṭasaptatyadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

ಇತಿ ಶ್ರೀಮಹಾಭಾರತದ ದ್ರೋಣಪರ್ವದ ಘಟೋತ್ಕಚವಧಪರ್ವದಲ್ಲಿ, ರಾತ್ರಿಯುದ್ಧ ಹಾಗೂ ಬಲಾಯುಧವಧವನ್ನು ವರ್ಣಿಸುವ ನೂರ ಎಪ್ಪತ್ತೆಂಟನೆಯ ಅಧ್ಯಾಯವು ಸಮಾಪ್ತವಾಯಿತು.

Word by Word

इतिthus; so (end-quotation marker)

श्रीमहाभारतेin the (holy) Mahābhārata

द्रोणपर्वणिin the Droṇa-parvan

घटोत्कचवधपर्वणिin the sub-parvan on the slaying of Ghaṭotkaca

रात्रियुद्धेin the night-battle

बलायुधवधेin the slaying of Balāyudha

अष्टसप्तत्यधिकशततमःthe one-hundred-and-seventy-eighth (chapter)

अध्यायःchapter

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Mahābhārata

Droṇa Parva

Ghaṭotkaca

Balāyudha

rātriyuddha (night-battle)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

As a colophon, the verse does not teach through direct instruction; it frames the episode’s ethical atmosphere: the shift to night-fighting signals a weakening of conventional dharma in war, where fear, urgency, and extraordinary means begin to dominate over transparent, rule-bound combat.

What is happening in the narrative?

The line functions as an editorial/narrative closure: it announces that, within the Droṇa Parva and the Ghaṭotkaca-slaying episode, the 178th chapter—centered on the night-battle and the killing of Balāyudha—has ended.