Mahabharata characters 71 Ashwatthama The dangerous temptation to punish

This talk is a part of the “Fascinating Mahabharata Characters” series. To know more about this course, please visit: bhakticourses.com

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna. Welcome back to the Mahabharata character series. We are discussing about Ashwatthama now.
So in the central generation of the Mahabharata, among the characters on the side of the Kauravas, we discussed Duryodhana, then Karna, and now we are going to discuss Ashwatthama. Now the word Ashwatthama literally means horse voice. Ashwa is horse.
Thama refers to horse. So it is said that when he was born, he screeched like a horse. That’s why he was given the name Ashwatthama.
Ashwatthama, like his father, has a Brahmana birth, but he has Kshatriya talents and he acts like a Kshatriya fighting in the many battles that the Kauravas fight in and eventually, like Drona, he fights on the side of the Kauravas. Now in one sense, all the battles that start, many battles that take place, which culminate in the battle at Kurukshetra, we can say they have various roots. At one level, the root is actually Duryodhana’s envy.
So now the confrontation between Drupada and Drona, which eventually also is a part of the complex web of hostile relationships that characterise the Mahabharata, that has origin in something centred around Ashwatthama. So when Ashwatthama was a small child, at that time, Drona was extremely poor. In fact, so poor that he could not even provide milk for his son.
And once when Ashwatthama was playing with other boys and they said, we have drunk milk and it is so delicious. It is like the earth’s nectar. So he went to his mother and he asked, what is milk? I want to have milk.
And his mother felt so pained that she was not able to provide him milk. So much so, not only has she not been able to provide him milk, that this child does not even know what is milk. So, but still concealing her grief, she took some flour, mixed it with water and put something for taste in it and then she gave it to him.
And he said, this is milk. And he drank it and said, oh, this is also delicious, because of the sweetness put over there. And he said, oh, this is, I have drunk milk.
He was happy. Now, Drona was at home and he appreciated Krupi’s resourcefulness. But he felt like deprecating himself for his own unresourcefulness in not being able to provide for his family.
And that time, he decided that acting as a Brahmana was not going to help him. He would act as a Kshatriya. It was at that time that he also went to Drupada and Aparoja and Drupada refused to help him.
Then he felt, my only way is to do some other occupation. He decided to act as a Kshatriya. He learned from Parashurama.
And that is how he came to the, with the Kshatriya knowledge, he came to the Kuru areas. And then Bhishma recognised him and Bhishma invited him to take on the post of the trainer of the Pandavas and Kauravas. So, now, Drona had a very special attachment to Ashwathama.
And Ashwathama himself was virtuous. But he, and he appreciated the virtuous Pandavas, but somehow, he also liked Duryodhana. And especially, just he and Duryodhana shared a common negative perception of the Pandavas.
That negative perception was because of what? Duryodhana had felt that the Pandavas have usurped his position in the heart of the Kuru elders, in the heart of the Kuru citizens, and on the Kuru throne. And similarly, Ashwathama felt that Arjuna has usurped my position in the throne of the heart of Drona. Drona had a natural affection for his son.
But when he found that Arjuna was expelling, was excelling Drona, that Arjuna was excelling Drona, then he actually started feeling, sorry, Arjuna was excelling Ashwathama. So, then Drona also had affection for Arjuna. So, although he had affection for Ashwathama, no doubt, as a son, but he wanted, Ashwathama wanted the affection not only as a son, but also as a student, as the best, as a very dear son and as the best student.
But Arjuna was clearly the best student. And Ashwathama respected Arjuna for his archery skills, but still, always rankled in his heart that, you know, I was not my father’s best student. And that sort of created a kinship between him and Drona and Duryodhana.
And Ashwathama doesn’t play a very prominent role in the initial phases of the Mahabharata. In fact, an incident that happens during the phase is also told later by Krishna to indicate Ashwathama, to give a glimpse of Ashwathama nature. So, Krishna tells this after Ashwathama in the Saptik Parva has done the brutal killing of the Kauravas, of the Pandavas.
We’ll discuss that incident here right now to understand the point. So, Krishna tells that one day, once when I was in Dwarka, Ashwathama came there and he said that, I have got the Brahmashi Rastha which my father has given me. He said, I would like to do a swap with you.
Take my Brahmasheera and you give me your Sudarshana. So, Krishna said, this is the Pandavas, this is what Ashwathama had said. So, Krishna replied that, Sudarshana is lying over here, I don’t need your Brahmasheera, you can take it yourself.
Ashwathama came and he lifted up. Now, the Sudarshana Chakra can cut a mountain, it can cut anything and everything, it is Vishnu’s weapon. So, it could not be lifted by anyone else.
Ashwathama couldn’t even move it, couldn’t budge it and finally, Krishna just watching, smiling and Ashwathama gave up his efforts. So, then Krishna told him, when Ashwathama was about to depart, he said, why did you want Sudarshana? He said, if I had a Sudarshana, then Sudarshana is the greatest weapon in the whole creation and having it, I would become the greatest warrior and with the Sudarshana, I would have challenged you for war, I would have defeated you and then I would have become established as the greatest warrior. So, now, this incident tells us several things.
First of all, it’s Ashwathama’s brazenness in telling this, in desiring this and then openly telling this to Krishna also. But along with that, his desire, he was born a Brahmana, but he had the Kshatriya desire to be recognised as a great warrior and in fact, he was ready to deprive the Lord of his weapon for that. Now, Ashwathama was a Shiva worshipper.
So, we’ll see how that comes to play a role later. Throughout his life, he worshipped Shiva primarily and then eventually, when the war happened, he fought on the side of the Pandavas, on the side of the Kauravas and he was a fierce warrior, fierce, fierce warrior and he was practically undefeatable by anyone and one of the days, he had a very fierce fight with Ghatotkach and fought and fought Ghatotkach and he actually completely bested Ghatotkach. He said, Ghatotkach, he fought and fought and as Ghatotkach was getting wounded, Ashwathama told Ghatotkach, oh child, he says, it’s not proper for me to fight with you because you are but a child in front of me.
He says, Bhima is my equal and you are his son. So, he says, as long as I’m kindly disposed, go away from here. He says, otherwise, if once I get angry, then in anger, a person may do what is improper and for me to kill you would definitely be improper.
Ghatotkach was enraged. He said, what? You consider me inferior to you? He says, I am as strong as a ten-headed Ravana, the emperor of the Rakshasas. I will destroy you and Ashwathama just laughed and fought and fought.
Ghatotkach fought with all his strength but he was no match to Ashwathama and finally, Ashwathama’s relentless assault, Ghatotkach fell unconscious and he fled and fled to be taken away from there on his chariot. So, Ashwathama had many victories during the war and even before that in the Virat war, he had fought fiercely with Arjuna and he fought and fought and fought and they were equivalent skills but eventually, Arjuna had an unending quiver of arrows and Ashwathama did not have that and once his quiver got exhausted, he had to retreat but Arjuna’s quiver being unrestricted was able to allow him to fight for a long time. Then in the Kurukshetra war itself, Bhima and Ashwathama also had a very severe and prolonged fight in one of the days and the fight went just on and on and on and on and there seemed to be no end to it.
Finally, both Ashwathama had wounded Bhima, Bhima had wounded Ashwathama. So, eventually, actually Bhima severely wounded Ashwathama. Ashwathama fell unconscious and he had to be taken away but that effort had taken so much energy that after Bhima knocked Ashwathama unconscious, Bhima also was exhausted, he fell and he also fell unconscious and he also had to depart from there.
So, Ashwathama was no mean warrior. He could hold himself against the best of the warriors in the Pandava camp. So, on the 15th day leading up to the death of Drona, on that day, Ashwathama fought fiercely.
So, actually Ashwathama had become wounded and Ashwathama had gone off the battlefield. So, that’s why when Drona got the news that Ashwathama is dead, he started looking everywhere. He couldn’t see Ashwathama anywhere in the battlefield and he didn’t get any news of him.
And because Ashwathama was not there, he got the idea that maybe when Vishnu is saying that Ashwathama is dead, it must be true. And instead of checking anything, he just accepted that and started going into meditation. Then he was killed while he was in meditation by Dhrishtadyumna.
So, after that, on the 15th day when Drona was killed by the Pandavas, by Vishnu rather, by the Pandava forces, when the Kauravas broke and fled. So, at that time, Ashwathama, after recovering from his wounds, was coming and he said, Dhrishtadyumna, why are you fleeing like this? And Dhrishtadyumna could not speak the word and he told Kripa who just came by his side, he says, please tell what has happened. And Kripa told that Drona is dead.
The bond of attachment of action between Ashwathama and Drona was so great that Drona fell off his chariot, practically fell on the ground, holding his head and crying. He said, I cannot believe this. And when he heard how he had been killed, Ashwathama was filled with anger.
He said, turn around, O king, with me at the head of your army, today we will take revenge and we will destroy the Pandavas. He said, I have got me with the Narayanastra and that Narayanastra cannot be countered and it will destroy the Pandavas in one moment. It will destroy the whole Pandava army.
It will end this war today. And he went and shot Narayanastra and that Narayanastra expanded to the hundreds and thousands and thousands and thousands of weapons and nobody could counter it. Whoever tried to counter it, its power increased more and more and only Bhima was countering it.
As Bhima was countering, countering, then Arjuna and Krishna went and stopped Bhima and then they told him, bow down. And he and Arjuna and Krishna and all the Pandavas bowed down. The idea is we offer respect to Narayana.
We cannot stop the incongruent force of time. The relentless, unstoppable, inevitable flow of time will continue. But whether that passage of time is taking us closer to Krishna or away from Krishna, that will depend on our attitude.
So understanding that attitude is extremely important. So the passage of time, what was happening was Ashwathama said that I will, just as the passage of time cannot be stopped, I will ensure that nobody will be able to stop me. And that was the way he attacked Narayanastra.
But then he told bow down, bow down. And when you bow down, what will happen? Krishna had told Arjuna and Bhima to bow down. Taro just whizzed by, whizzed by.
And eventually the Pandavas emerged. He was incensed and he used another divine astral against them. But that was not enough.
Krishna, Arjuna countered it. And when Arjuna countered it, Ashwathama just went mad. On one side he was enraged at his father being killed, but on the other side he was frustrated.
He says when my best weapons don’t work, what can I do? And he just fled from there. All his illusion, all his illusion. And then when he saw Vyasadeva over there and he came off his chair and offered obeisance to Vyasadeva.
He says how is it my infallible darts have become futile? Then Vyasadeva told Ashwathama that actually Krishna and Arjuna are Narayana and Nara and they are immortal sages. They cannot be destroyed. Wherever they are, victory is going to be theirs.
So when Ashwathama heard this, Ashwathama, despite whatever bad associations effects were and his own bad mentality was, he still had faith in the bodies of Brahmanas. So when Vyasadeva told him this, he accepted it. And then he said, oh, thought better of Krishna.
How can we win if Krishna is really God? Then what can we do about it? Is it really Narayana? So then the 17th morning, 17th in day time, when Ashwathama, when Dushasan was, after Dushasan was killed and the final battle between Arjuna and Karna was going on, at that time Ashwathama made a fervent plea to Duryodhana to seek peace. He said there’s no way that we can win. And if you want, the only way we can, we can avoid complete disaster is by asking for peace.
And he made a fervent plea. But Duryodhana was too lost in his evil determination to listen at that time. So Ashwathama even spoke his mind at several occasions.
Now we see, he is fearless. He had a close relationship. And at one time, before the Virat war, when Karna criticised Kripa as being weak and partial and almost corruptible to being favourable to the Pandavas at that time, Ashwathama was ready to protect the honour of his father-in-law.
So, not his father-in-law, to protect the honour of his uncle. Kripa was the, Krupi was his mother and Kripa was his mother’s brother. So his uncle, maternal uncle.
And then similarly, when Duryodhana was blaming either Bhishma or Drona for being weak-minded, especially Bhishma. At that time, Ashwathama also said, you are evil-minded. And that’s why, although others are working their hardest to help you, you cannot see how they’re helping you.
Means you are weak-minded. So he was really very candid in his speech. But then, especially the death of Drona, it distorts him completely.
And then he came up with, he suggested the peace proposal. Drona rejected the peace proposal. And after that, on the 17th day, after Karna fell, 18th day, Shalya fell.
Then these three forces, these three warriors, Krita Varman, Kripa and Ashwathama, they were the survivors. And they had retreated for some time to rest and prepare for the war again. But then they saw that Drona also was fleeing.
And they came to where Drona was. And while they were discussing what could be done to rectify the situation, after now, they heard the Pandavas coming and then they retreated. And then afterwards, Bhima defeated Duryodhana.
And after Bhima defeated Duryodhana, then the Pandavas departed. And then when these three warriors again came back, they heard, especially Ashwathama heard that Duryodhana had been laid low by an unfair blow. He burst out in anger.
He couldn’t bear it. He said, the Pandavas, how far they have fallen. They killed their grandfather, then they killed their preceptor and now they have killed their brother, all by unfair means.
He said, must punish them. He jumped up and he said to Duryodhana, okay, by truth itself and by all that is sacred, I take this vow. He said, I will rid the earth of the Pandavas.
And hearing Duryodhana’s determination, Duryodhana was delighted and Duryodhana offered him to anoint him the king with the water of water from the nearby river by Kripa. And then he said, not the king, the commander. And then he decided that we’ll fight and we’ll defeat the Pandavas.
So at that time, they came to a burrow of banyan trees and there they decided to rest for the night. So as the other warriors, that is Kripa and Kripa Varman fell asleep, Ashwathama just could not sleep. His mind was burning with anger and the desire for revenge.
As he was observing here and there, suddenly he saw on a tree, hundreds of crows swimming and suddenly as they’re swimming, he saw a hawk with sharp talons swooping down on the crows and they were just one by one by one by thousands. They were just dead in a short while. And this is how the animals were killed.
And actually, when he saw this, he got an idea. He said, yes, this is it. What will I do? This is how I should kill the Pandavas when they are sleeping.
Now, actually, this was a very, very devious thing to decide. And to think this way that this was because of I got this inspiration, because of that I did this. So can we say that every inspiration that we get has come from Krishna? No.
Sometimes there can be demoniac inspirations also. And we have to see whether when we get an idea, whether that idea is according to Dharma or not. So what Karna thought, what Ashwathama decided was entirely against Dharma.
But then he was just, he felt surcharged by that idea. This is the way I’ll take revenge. And he and Krupalu Ghatana heard the plan.
They were so horrified that they just couldn’t speak any words, just stared at him in shock and dismay. So seeing the reaction of Karna to defend himself, he said, you know, but why should we hesitate? My father was defenceless and meditativistic trance and that’s how he was killed. And so Bhagavad Gita was killed like that.
So he says, Pandavas have fallen into devious ways. We should also know what is required to take revenge. So at that time, Kripa made a valiant effort to try to make Ashwathama sense.
First Kripacharya, he talked about the principle that one should not act with impulses. So Kripa gave an interesting example. He said that just as when there is delicious soup, that soup can be tasted only by the tongue, not by the milk, not by the spoon, which is made of wood.
Similarly, what is morality? Not everyone can understand it. Only when we have sense control, then we are like that spoon. Otherwise, then we are like the tongue.
Otherwise, we are like the spoon. So we can’t taste that. Similarly, one cannot understand morality without having sense control.
This is what you are talking about. It indicates your anger, your lost control of yourself and therefore, you are losing sight of morality. So Ashwathama would have nothing to hear of that.
And he said, I am going to fight. He said that different people have different opinions and even the same person’s opinion changes over time. So what is right and what is wrong is very difficult to decide.
So that’s why we should hear wisdom from others, look within and then do what we feel is right. So in principle, what Ashwathama is saying is true. But in practise, what he is saying is a colossal blunder of judgement.
Because our feelings can get warped so much, warped means distorted, confused so much that we may feel as right that which is wrong. And that’s what happened with Ashwathama over here. And as Ashwathama spoke, he said, I have considered your opinion, but I feel that what I am doing is, there’s nothing wrong in it.
And in Tripa, he said, I am determined that those evil Pandavas should be killed. And he says, how can we sleep when we think of our king lying alone and dying in the wilderness, being killed by unfair blows? Those who have acted unfairly, we should also act unfairly with them. Again, in principle, this logic makes sense.
But the sheer scale of brutality that Ashwathama did was completely out of the pale of what had happened before that. So there may be wrong things. And we will discuss towards the end of the sessions, whether the Pandavas also acted immorally and relatively speaking, how would they fall on the scale of morality with respect to the Kauravas.
But let’s focus here on this point. He was justifying what he was going to do. So then Kripa tried another track and Kripa said, no, don’t worry.
He said, now that you’re so determined to fight, you are a Maharatha and nobody can defeat you. So with such a determination to fight that you have, you will surely attain victory by honest means. So wait till tomorrow and we will also accompany you and we promise you we will fight wholeheartedly and we will win the war.
We’ll win the war honestly. There’s no need to do something like this. So Kripa again, Kripa spoke this.
Again, Ashwathama spoke, nothing doing. He said, I cannot wait till morning. They have killed my father brutally and I have to kill them like that.
I cannot wait till Dushruta is alive. And then now Kripa realising that this was a very seriously troubled situation, he finally gave one last word. He said, my dear nephew, please think a little bit deeply what you’re about to do.
He said, there are many people who are more advised than you and me. It’s best that we go to Dhritarashtra and we ask Dhritarashtra and we ask Vidura. And based on their direction, then we should decide what to do.
So Ashwathama would have nothing of that and he started off. And when he started off, he saw that there was a mass suicide. Whether you are coming or not, I am going.
And then he started off and then Kripa and Vidura looked at each other and they felt that he is just a commander. We can resist him to some extent, but it’s our duty to help him also. And they decided to go with him.
Now, as Ashwathama had proceeded ahead by this time, he saw suddenly on the outskirts of Pandava camp, a huge strange looking figure. This figure had a tiger skin around his neck, around his waist, and it was having fresh blood on it. And then there was a deer skin around his chest, upper part of the body.
And then there was a snake, ferocious snake wound around his head. And there were snake arms which are armlets on his arms. And then he was also having fire coming out of his mouth.
And he had a thousand eyes. And he was carrying fields of weapons in his hands. Ashwathama saw this terrible being.
He became fearful. He started shooting arrows, arrows, arrows. And soon all his arrows got exhausted and he was wondering what is happening.
And then he said, no, God will be able to resist my arrows. But the fact that he resisted the arrows means that he must be someone special. So who is he? As he was thinking like this, he thought, got the thought, maybe this is my, the God whom I have worshipped since my childhood, Mahadev.
So when he thought that this was Mahadev, he decided to test it. And then how he tested? He first attacked him with all his weapons, but his weapons just disappeared, leaving him harmless. And then eventually, when he recognised this, he offered his obeisances, started offering respects and prayers.
So Mahadev spoke at that time. He says, since the first day of the war, I am protecting Pandavas, especially at night by acting as a guard for them. So when Ashwathama, he had initially thought that this is Lord Shiva.
And when he was going to realise his conformance with Lord Shiva, he had become very scared. He thought that because of the very sinful act that I was doing, that contemplating the killing of sleeping warriors. So because of that, now Mahadev has come to punish me.
So he thought that I have to offer prayers. Offer prayers and propitiate them. So he started propitiating him.
Kripa had told him that, what you are thinking of, it is too sinful to even contemplate what to speak of, actually do. It will bring you infamy. You have been known as a great warrior and this will sink your reputation to charades completely.
Don’t even do this. But he had paid no attention and as those words were ringing in his mind, he again offered forward prayers to Shiva begging him, trying to propitiate him. And then Shiva told him that, yes, I have been guarding these people, these warriors, because they are all fighting on the side of Narayan and I have affection for Narayan.
But now the time has come and because the time has come, they are all meant to die and you are going to act as an instrument for their death and use this weapon. And then as Ashwathama was amazed to hear this, he was thinking that he will be punished, chastised, even killed, but instead he was given a weapon, a weapon to fulfil the very thing that he wanted to do. As he touched the sword, he felt a surge of power rushing through his body.
He was delighted and then Shiva disappeared. Now this may raise an issue. Is it that Shiva wanted Ashwathama to commit this extremely sinful activity? No.
It was Ashwathama who desired to do it and Shiva facilitated his desire. So it is said that we are often forced to act as we choose to desire. We are forced to act as we choose to desire.
We desire and eventually other factors take over and they often make us, they often make us puppets in their plans. So Ashwathama was counselled against doing it. His own conscience also spoke, but he just crushed the outer counsel as well as the inner conscience and went ahead with his evil resolve.
And when that happened, he started construing everything accordingly. He saw the hawk coming and killing the birds. That’s what I should also do.
And he thought that Shiva has given me the weapon. Now he felt righteous, I am doing Shiva’s will, but he was simply doing his will. And yes, it may have been the time for the warriors to die.
But the Lord could have arranged for the death of the warriors in various ways. Nobody had to, he did not have to do the terribly sinful act of becoming an instrument for that destruction. He did not become an instrument, he did not kill because he was thinking, oh, I want to be a selfless instrument of Lord Shiva’s will.
No, he had his own axe to grind, he had his own revengeful agenda there. And that’s why he was culpable karmically. And then he went inside and he went straight to Dhristadyumna’s tent.
And Dhristadyumna was fast asleep and he went and he was pounding him with his feet. And Dhristadyumna woke up and just stunned him. He was exhausted and he was still half asleep.
He said, where is Ashwathama? And he said, you wretched person, killer of your guru, I’ll kill you. And he started pounding him again and again. And Ashwathama had a weapon and he could have just killed him with a weapon.
But he decided he should die a painful death. He started beating him again and again and again. And Dhristadyumna just couldn’t fight back.
He was trying and trying, he couldn’t fight back. Finally, Ashwathama, he said, now kill me like a warrior with a weapon. Then I will attain the regions of bliss that are attained by those who have died in war.
He said, there is no bliss for those who kill their guru. He said, you should die like the animal that you are. He said, therefore, with his feet only kicking him, kicking him.
And finally, with his leg, he crushed him. He crushed him and strangled him to his death. A very vicious, brutal and cold-blooded death.
And then, as Dhristadyumna was screaming, the women and the guards came in. And they saw Ashwathama looking so fierce with a blazing sword. He shrank back and went out of there, leaving them.
Then he saw a tent that looked the most majestic in the whole encampment. And he went inside and he saw five heads over there. And immediately, he picked up his sword and with a single swipe, he just knocked off one of the heads, the second, third, fourth, fifth.
The woman said, kill all of them. And then he thought it was the five Pandavas. He felt delighted, I have killed the five Pandavas.
And then he went and killed Shikhandi, he killed Uttama, Sudhamanya and Vakama. And he saw Ashwathama coming, he raised his mace. And he flung a full blow on the chest.
Ashwathama was unfazed. He had got some extraordinary power by the power of Shiva. And he was completely unfazed.
He dragged him down and pounded him to death. And then as other warriors woke and came out, some of them tried to fight with him. But with bloodlust, with violence, with anger, mercilessly Ashwathama hacked them all to death.
Seeing his fury and seeing his power, the warriors fled. Some tried to run for their horses, some tried to run on feet. Ashwathama ran and killed all of them.
And those who invaded him, now Karna, Kripa and Krithavarman killed the remaining ones. And in a short while, the whole camp was over the stench and the stillness of death. No one survived.
And Ashwathama came out and saw Kripa and Krithavarman there. And they told him that nobody had been spared. He congratulated them and they decided to go.
So he was thinking, how should I tell Duryodhana that the Pandavas have been killed and their whole, all the army soldiers have been killed. It will be difficult for him to believe it also. And he did not really want to admit that he had killed them while sleeping.
So he thought what to say. He went back into the Pandava camp. He said, if I take their heads, then Duryodhana will believe me.
And he went in. As he went to the camp, the first streak of morning light was coming. And then he went to the camp and he saw that the five persons who he had killed were not the Pandavas.
They were the Pandava’s sons, the Upapandavas as they said. And his sword dropped from his hand. And he felt disappointed.
He realised that the Pandavas have probably not been present in the camp itself because nobody had been spared. And he felt there are no other five, that kind of heroic warriors at one place in the camp anywhere. And he was disappointed.
And now, after he had finished the killing orgy, the power of Lord Shiva had left him. Although he had his sword, it was of no use now. So he wondered what to do, he thought.
And then he decided to take those heads itself. And he thought that at least if I show these heads and tell him that Duryodhana said, these are the heads of the five Pandavas, maybe he would be happy. And he took the heads and departed from there.
So actually, what happened to Duryodhana, to Ashwathama? You know, yes, you see, Drona’s killing was unfair. But it was, yes, the Pandavas planned to stop Drona from fighting. But their plan was to arrest them.
Arjuna’s plan was that. There, Dushodhana’s killing of Drona was just an instantaneous, hot-blooded act of brutality. Whereas, Ashwathama’s killing of the sleeping warriors was a cold-blooded, orchestrated act of act of hellish monstrosity.
There’s a whole scale of difference between them. And that’s why what he did was unconscionable. And then he realised that the Pandavas are not on his side.
And he decided to flee. First he went to Duryodhana and of course, Duryodhana recognised when he crushed the heads that these are not the Pandavas, these are the Upapandavas, the sons of Duryodhana. Duryodhana was disappointed.
Sensual Ashwathama, he says, you have ended our dynasty now. What have you done? And Ashwathama felt even more afflicted. He said, not only had he done a grievous misdeed, but he had also not been able to please the person for whom he had done all this.
And now, mortally afraid of his fate, he decided to take shelter of Vyasadeva. He went and was there with a simple upper cloth and with a brahminical dress. But Bhima, Arjuna, Krishna and Sahadeva, they all came there.
And Bhima was in the rage and seeing the rage of Bhima, Ashwathama panicked and used his Brahmashersha, the only weapon which he had not used in the Kurukshetra war. Because his father had given him the Brahmashersha but told him that, you know, don’t use it unless your life is in extreme danger. It’s a weapon which is devastating.
And, you know, after using it, it can cause the destruction of the whole world. And knowing that Ashwathama was a little impulsive, he had not given him the full knowledge. So he knew how to discharge it, but not how to withdraw it.
So in that sense, Ashwathama’s knowledge was like Abhimanyu’s knowledge. Abhimanyu had the knowledge how to penetrate a Chakravi, but not how to come out of it. So now when he was just trapped like this, not knowing what to do, so he was out of panic for saving his life with the Brahmashersha and he discharged it.
And then we have discussed how when Arjuna also discharged the Brahmashersha and then he asked, they chastised him. What a guy being like this? Why? Withdraw it. Now Ashwathama didn’t know how to withdraw it.
But again, you know, he had already done so many wrongs, he did not want to confess one more wrong. So instead of telling that I can’t withdraw, he just decided to maliciously redirect the Brahmashersha to Uttara’s womb. How did he do that? Iniquity upon iniquity upon iniquity.
As if the killing the whole camp of Pandava warriors while they are sleeping was not bad enough. Killing an embryo in the womb is again horrendous. But he saw that temptation for punishing what he felt was a misdeed.
It was a misdeed. But the righteous sense of self-righteousness that he got and the punishment that he wanted to do because of that. It was so horrendous that he just felt that anything goes.
And he redirected the Brahmashersha to the womb of Uttara. And then we know how Krishna saved Pariksit over there. Then Pandavas arrested Ashwathama and then we discussed the whole debates between Arjuna, Draupadi, Krishna, Bhima, Yudhishthira.
And then finally it was decided that his head was tied on top and there was a jewel on top of his head. So Arjuna cut off the hair along with the jewel came off and he gave the jewel to Draupadi. Here is this jewel that he had wanted.
And the jewel was the preserver of all the power of man. As soon as the jewel was lost, he shrunk on the ground, shrivelled and fell, collapsed. All his power was gone.
And Krishna took curse to him. He said, three thousand years you will have to suffer living in wilderness, away from society, the foul smelling body, your body will be foul smelling. Only after that will you be able to come back and be in society.
And of course, Ashwathama is one of the Chiranjeevis along with Vyasadev, Bhishma, Markandeya and others. So it is said that he will live on till Kalyuga’s end and he will also eventually based on whatever punya he has done, he will attain an auspicious position afterwards. But three thousand years was the punishment that he got.
So Ashwathama now, what does he illustrate is a real character in the sense that he was a part Mahabharata, but illustrates how because of petty dissatisfaction one can make heavy misjudgments. Petty dissatisfaction was, oh Abhimanyu is Arjuna’s favourite student, I am not the favourite student. Well, still Drona had given him all the knowledge, almost everything.
Ashwathama, then the skinship with Duryodhana, that and his misplaced desire to please Duryodhana, his misplaced desire that in taking revenge for his father’s death, anything goes. So that temptation for punishing can be a very dangerous temptation because it can make us lose sense of proportion in meting out the punishment and that is what happened to Ashwathama. And in trying to correct one wrong, he ended up doing a wrong that was catastrophically far, far greater.
So Ashwathama demonstrates how we be very careful in our actions and not let our passions, especially passions like anger and the desire for revenge,