अध्याय ९ — कर्णस्य प्रहारः, योधयुग्मनियोजनम्, शैनेय-कैकेययोर्युद्धविन्यासः
ढ्रोणे हते च यद् वृत्तं कौरवाणां परै: सह । संग्रामे नरवीराणां तनन््ममाचक्ष्व संजय
Droṇe hate ca yad vṛttaṃ Kauravāṇāṃ paraiḥ saha | saṅgrāme naravīrāṇāṃ tan mamācakṣva Sañjaya ||
Vaiśampāyana nói: “Hãy kể cho ta, Sanjaya, sau khi Drona bị giết thì đã xảy ra điều gì—trong trận chiến của những bậc anh hùng ấy, người Kuru đã xoay xở ra sao trước kẻ thù?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
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.
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.