Ashwatthama manages to escape death but is cursed. Mahabharata 171

Krishna and Arjuna soon catch up with Bheema but are unable to dissuade him from going after Ashwatthama. They decide to accompany him and look for Ashwatthama. And the moment Ashwatthama sees Bheema in combat readiness and also the others, he picks up a blade of grass, invokes a powerful astra and directs it to destroy the pandavas! The blade of grass moves spewing fire and looks capable of destroying the three worlds! Krishna who had anticipated this, urges Arjuna to release an equally powerful astra in reply. Arjuna invokes a divyaastra with a prayer, 'Let the acharya putra be safe, let me and my brothers be blessed, let this astra cool the other astra!' and releases it. The released astra moves speedily,  fiery and also capable of  destroying the three worlds. 

Vyasa and Narada realising the threat to the world, rush between the two astras to stop them and address both Arjuna and Ashwatthama, 'You brave men! No warrior however powerful has used this weapon against humans. Take it back!'  Arjuna complies. But Ashwatthama refuses, 'I have used this astra both in sadness and to save myself. It was adharma the way Bheema killed Duryodhana. Hence it is not possible to withdraw the astra. It will surely kill the progeny of pandavas.'

 Vyasa urges Ashwatthama, 'Do not do this! Arjuna had released the astra to counter your astra and has withdrawn it. You should reciprocate. Give up the jewel on your head and in exchange they will let you go!' Ashwatthama replies, 'I will give them the jewel, but I cannot withdraw. It will enter the embryo of pandava children and kill them'. Krishna  asks, 'At least spare the child Uttarae is carrying!'  But Ashwatthama refuses. Krishna says, 'Not to worry, the embroyo will die but will come alive again and will live long! But you will face the consequence of  शिशुहत्या (infanticide). You will wander alone in deserted lands and forests for 3000 years. But Parikshit will be the student of Kripacharya and rule Kurudesha for sixty years.' Ashwatthama takes the jewel from his head, hands it over and walks away in a black mood. 

Krishna and pandavas  return swiftly and Bheema gives the jewel to Draupadi, 'Here is the precious stone you wanted. I got it by defeating the man who killed your children. Duryodhana is dead,  the blood of Dushyasana has been drunk and you have been avenged'. And consoles her with, 'Ashwatthama has lost his power and respect as a brahmin and what remains is just his body.'

Draupadi agrees, 'I have been avenged. As a guruputra Ashwatthama is equal in status to a guru. Let Maharaja take the precious stone!'. Yudhisthira in order to please his wife and also as a respect for his guru takes the stone and wears it on his head.

It finally seems to be the end of the war! But there are still many more parvas in the epic narration. It is tempting to stop here, but my friend Raghu tells me that विष्णुसहस्रनामन् (thousand names of Vishnu) is part of the Mahabharta in Shantiparva which comes later.. In a way it is intriguing! We had Bhagvad Gita at the beginning of the war and later a prayer which is recited daily by many . In fact, Tara and Gayathri recited this on the banks of Gangaji at Rishikesh. I remember my father used to recite this regularly.


I had hoped to have a greater insight into our hindu psyche in the story of Mahabharata. It is rather straightforward, if one accepts our mythology in toto. There are gods, heavens and hell. At one time gods and humans did mingle. Even had children with humans. Gods are still in heaven and have super powers.  

Brahmins were revered and khsatriyas were men of valor who protected and followed their dharma. The merchants, I guess, went about commerce as  practically as they do now. I imagine that the farmers and other artisans toiled as ever. I imagine the farmers never struck work in those days. It is practically the same now! 

We also learn that we are responsible for our actions and pay for bad actions which are not considered dharma. There is a system of accounting which carries forward the history of our actions to the many cycles of birth and rebirth. I must mention that in the recent retreat we attended in Rishikesh, I learnt that in this accounting a good action does not necessarily cancel a bad action! The results of bad action and that of the good action will manifest separately in due time as ordained. This raised a lot of questions in my mind. What about the belief that a dip in ganga washes away our sins? What about those who donate a percentage of their ill-gotten gains to temples. How would they react to this  नियम precept?

Coming back to the story, it is significant that while khsatriyas as a rule were ready to die in a war, Ashwatthama being a brahmin sees no merit in it and prefers to wander the earth for many many years.
As we read the story we are told in so many ways that Krishna planned the destruction of kshatriyas and used them as pawns in his grand design. He chose to save only five pandavas and the one still in the womb of Uttarae.

Saupthika (Nocturnal combat) parva. Ashwatthama keeps his promise to Duryodhana. Mahabharata 168

Ashwatthama, Krupa and Kritivarma take leave of the dying Duryodhana and enter a nearby forest by sunset and rest under a banyan tree after taking care of their horses. Soon it is night and a beautiful  starry one! The trio, very tired, injured and deeply distressed, lie down to sleep. Krupa and Kritivarma  manage to sleep, but an angry and troubled Ashwatthama cannot! He keeps brooding and staring at the dark forest, when suddenly a large owl swoops in and starts attacking the crows which are asleep, perched on the branches. In no time numerous crows fall, mutilated and dying and a satiated owl flies away!  Ashwatthama thinks, 'This bird has given me a lesson in warfare! I cannot destroy the strong, brave and now triumphant pandavas in a war, but I have promised my king that I will! It is possible to keep this promise only by unfair means! Anyway pandavas also have adopted unethical practices!'  Once this thought takes hold of him, he gets impatient and wakes up the other two and asks them what they think they should do!

Kripa says that they require help from above in addition to their ability and effort to succeed. He also thinks that they should consult the elders, Gandhaari, Dhritarashtra and Vidura. He feels that Duryodhana even in this condition will not listen to sound advice. This does not please Ashwatthama, his attitude has hardened with grief. He also realises that what he proposes may not be liked.'We all should change with time. And one has to follow what he thinks is right thing to do. Only then will it work. I will tell you what I want to do in this time of difficulty. The panchalas are now unworried, have taken off their armorur and are sleeping. I plan to kill them in their camp as they sleep! I will have peace only if I kill them and avenge the deaths of my father,  Duryodhana, Karna, Bheeshma and Saindhava. 

Krupa reacts. 'It is  god's will that you have this thirst for revenge. It seems no one can change it. But let us wait till tomorrow.  You have the power to kill them, but you have been awake all the time, sleep and take some  rest. We will also join you in the morning, and together let us kill them or die and go to heaven!' But Ashwatthama does not want to wait. He says he cannot sleep till he has killed Dhristadhymna, 'I can sleep only after I have killed the enemies. I have decided to kill them tonight!'

Krupa tries to dissuade Ashwatthama, tells him it is not dharma. But Ashwatthama argues that pandavas are also guilty of adharma and declares, 'I do not care if it is a sin, but I must kill Dhristadhyumna  tonight, as he sleeps unarmed, I will kill him like we kill an animal'. Gets his chariot ready and proceeds. Krupa and Kritivarma tell him that they are with him for better or worse and follow him. 

When they near the camp Ashwatthama stops and tells the other two that he will go in alone and they should take care of those who try to run away! Ashwatthama sneaks in from a side entrance, locates Drishtadhymna, kicks him. Awoken, Drishtadhyumna stands up and is lifted up and thrown down with force.  He is stamped upon and kicked all over his body, his chest,, his vulnerable and vital parts. Drishtadhyumna pleads, 'Acharyaputra kill me with a weapon so that I can go to heaven'.  Ashwatthama tells him, 'A man who killed a teacher has  no hopes of going to heaven!' and again kicks him on his vital part and kills him. The carnage continues and Ashwatthama kills many more. In this confusion elephants and horses stampede and those who managed to escape the carnage die in the stampede. A few who escape through the main gates are killed by Kripa and Kritivarma. They also set fire to the camp in a few places and those who had to die are burnt to death.

Ashwatthama is finally satisfied and joins the other two. 'We have killed panchalas, sons of draupadi, somakas and matsyakas. We have accomplished our objectives. Let us see if Duryodhana is still alive! If so, we can give him the good news and make him happy!'  And they hurry towards the place where Duryodhana was struck down!

End of Drona Parva. Mahabharta 155

A little later, Ashwatthama who was engaged in an other part of the battle field, is surprised to discover the kaurava army in disarray and running helter-skelter. Asks Kripa for the reason and is aghast at learning about his father's death, extremely angry, he avows, 'Let the earth quench its thirst with the blood of Yudhisthira, who cheated and made my father give up his fight.  I can have peace only after killing the panchalas and Dhristadhyumna!' 

He then invokes Naryana astra and directs it against the pandavas. This astra takes the form of different weapons and begins to destroy the pandava army. The astra also has the capacity to match the strength of the army it is against and grow in size if required. The pandava army has no answer to this astra and are feeling helpless!

It is Krishna who knows the secret of neutralising this astra, advises the pandava army to drop its weapons. The whole army complies except  Bheema. The astra leaves the rest of the army alone and attacks Bheema. Krishna and Arjuna seeing this, run and pull Bheeema down. They counsel him to stop fighting, ' Do you not see the others standing without a fight. If there was a chance of winning would we have not fought?.'  Once the whole pandava army stops fighting, the Narayana Astra becomes quiet. There is no further danger from it, as it can be used only once! Ashwatthama tries other astras, but Arjuna has answers to these, so a discouraged Ashwatthama gives up and returns to his camp.

While Vachana Bharata is brief about the war, Kamala's version does have more details. For instance Ashwatthama cannot understand how Naryana Astra was neutralised and did not destroy the pandavas as he had hoped.

Ashwatthama asks Vyasa, 'My lord, why did my astras fail? How could they?' Vyasa explains to him that Krishna and Arjuna are in fact incarnations of Nara and Narayana. 'You cannot either defy them or destroy them. You are trying to do the impossible. Your father has reached the heavens, there is nothing for you to grieve. Go home, my child and think of tomorrow!'

The concept of Astras itself is thought provoking.
In Hindu mythology an astra (Sanskrit: अस्त्र) was a supernatural weapon, presided over by a specific deity. To summon or use an astra required knowledge of a specific incantation/invocation, when armed. The deity invoked would then endow the weapon, making it impossible to counter through regular means. Specific conditions existed involving the usage of astras, the violation of which could be fatal. Because of the power involved, the knowledge involving an astra was passed from a teacher to a pupil by word of mouth alone, and only following the establishment of the student's character. Certain astras had to be handed down from the deity involved directly, knowledge of the incantation being insufficient...wikipedia 

More or less a safe system, even if we come across some situations wherein a diety does bestow these Astras to undesirable characters. But luckily for humanity, there is always a Vishnu or a  Shiva saving mankind at the nick of time!

Today Proliferation of Nuclear weapons is a serious concern. Again thanks to almighty, it was only used against one country, twice unfortuantely, and after that there have been confrontations and threats, but so far no one has pushed the button!  But more and more are into making Nuclear weapons!  They neither need the blessing of a guru or a major diety. They can invent or steal the technology!

Again I read that India was the largest buyer of armaments last year! Perhaps placating gods would have been cheaper and more productive.