Shloka 183

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते द्रोणपर्वणि घटोत्कचवधपर्वणि रात्रियुद्धे व्यासवाक्ये त्रयशीत्यधिकशततमो<ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate droṇaparvaṇi ghaṭotkacavadhaparvaṇi rātriyuddhe vyāsavākye trayāśītyadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

ਇਤਿ ਸ਼੍ਰੀਮਹਾਭਾਰਤ ਦੇ ਦ੍ਰੋਣ ਪਰਵ ਵਿੱਚ ਘਟੋਤਕਚ-ਵਧ ਪਰਵ ਦੇ ਰਾਤਰੀ ਯੁੱਧ ਪ੍ਰਸੰਗ ਵਿੱਚ, ਵਿਆਸ-ਵਾਕ੍ਯ ਸੰਬੰਧੀ ਇੱਕ ਸੌ ਤਿਰਾਸੀਵਾਂ ਅਧਿਆਇ॥

Word by Word

इतिthus; end-quote marker

श्रीमहाभारतेin the Śrī-Mahābhārata

द्रोणपर्वणिin the Droṇa-parvan

घटोत्कचवधपर्वणिin the Parvan (section) of the slaying of Ghaṭotkaca

रात्रियुद्धेin the night-battle

व्यासवाक्येin Vyāsa's utterance (colophon formula)

त्रयशीत्यधिकशततमःthe one-hundred-and-eighty-third (chapter)

अध्यायःchapter

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mahābhārata

Droṇa Parva

Ghaṭotkaca

Vyāsa

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 but through framing: it marks the night-battle and Ghaṭotkaca’s death as an ethically charged escalation in which normal battlefield restraints weaken, highlighting how war pressures dharma and pushes combatants toward extreme means.

What is happening in the narrative?

This is the chapter-ending colophon: it identifies the text as belonging to the Droṇa Parva, within the episode of Ghaṭotkaca’s slaying, set during the night-battle, and notes that this is the 183rd chapter, presented as Vyāsa’s narration.