Shloka 96

अध्याय ९ — कर्णस्य प्रहारः, योधयुग्मनियोजनम्, शैनेय-कैकेययोर्युद्धविन्यासः

Devanagari script

ढ्रोणे हते च यद्‌ वृत्तं कौरवाणां परै: सह । संग्रामे नरवीराणां तनन्‍्ममाचक्ष्व संजय

Transliteration

Droṇe hate ca yad vṛttaṃ Kauravāṇāṃ paraiḥ saha | saṅgrāme naravīrāṇāṃ tan mamācakṣva Sañjaya ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “Tell me, Sañjaya, what happened after Droṇa was slain—how the Kauravas fared together with their foes, in that battle of heroic men.”

Word by Word

द्रोणेwhen/with Droṇa

हतेhaving been slain

चand

यत्what/that which

वृत्तम्event, occurrence, what happened

कौरवाणाम्of the Kauravas

परैःwith/by the enemies (the others)

सहtogether with

संग्रामेin the battle

नरवीराणाम्of the heroic men

तत्that

ममto me / of me

आचक्ष्वtell, relate

संजयO Sañjaya

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Droṇa (Droṇācārya)

Kauravas

Sañjaya

Vaiśampāyana

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a moral-historical inquiry: after a major teacher-warrior (Droṇa) falls, the listener seeks an exact account of consequences. It highlights the epic’s ethical attention to how pivotal deaths reshape duty, resolve, and conduct in war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana prompts Sañjaya to recount the subsequent course of the battle—what the Kauravas and their opponents did and what unfolded among the warriors—specifically after Droṇa’s killing.