Shloka 177

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते द्रोणपर्वणि घटोत्कचवधपर्वणि रात्रियुद्धेडलायु धयुद्धे सप्तसप्तत्यधिकशततमो<ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate droṇaparvaṇi ghaṭotkacavadhaparvaṇi rātriyuddhe ḍalāyudhayuddhe saptasaptatyadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

ఇట్లు శ్రీమహాభారత ద్రోణపర్వములో, ఘటోత్కచవధపర్వమునందు, రాత్రియుద్ధము మరియు డలాయుధయుద్ధము ప్రసంగములో నూట డెబ్బై ఏడవ అధ్యాయము సమాప్తమైంది।

Word by Word

इतिthus; end-quote marker

श्रीमहाभारतेin the venerable Mahabharata

द्रोणपर्वणिin the Drona Parva

घटोत्कचवधपर्वणिin the section (sub-parva) on the slaying of Ghatotkacha

रात्रियुद्धेin the night-battle

अलायुधयुद्धेin the battle with Alayudha

सप्तseven

सप्तत्यधिकseventy-plus; exceeding seventy

शततमःhundredth

अध्यायःchapter

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Mahābhārata

Droṇa Parva

Ghaṭotkaca

Ḍ

Ḍalāyudha

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?

This verse is a colophon rather than a doctrinal statement: it frames the episode’s ethical gravity by formally closing a chapter set in night warfare and the slaying of Ghaṭotkaca—events that intensify the war’s moral ambiguity and highlight how strategic necessity and adharma-like methods can escalate suffering and retaliation.

What is happening in the narrative?

The text signals the end of a chapter within Droṇa Parva, in the sub-section describing Ghaṭotkaca’s death, situated amid the night-battle and an encounter labeled with Ḍalāyudha. It functions as an editorial boundary marking the completion of that narrative unit.