Sunday, October 27, 2019





||Srimad Bhagavath Mahapuran||

||Om Namo Bhagavathe Vasudevaya||

Chapter – 29 – The death punishment to Ashwaththama


At the end of the Kurukshetra war, Duryodhana was severely injured on the thigh by the thrash of Bhima with his powerful mace.  Duryodhana was extremely tormented with the grief of the death of hundreds of brothers and all the warriors in the battle; he could not win the battle even though he had the huge army of Narayani which was offered by Krishna.   Pandava had less army of warriors compared to them, even though they had won the battle with the assistance of Krishna.  Ashwaththama felt extremely saddened to see the pathetic state of Duryodhana, and said “ Oh! Mithra, what shall I do for you? I can’t bear to see the miserable state of you.  Command me; I am willing to obey your orders. If you would have appointed me as the chief of the army of Kauravas, I would have killed all of the Pandavas.  You have appointed Bhishma Pithamaha and my father Dronacharya as the chief of the army; they both were not your side heartily.  They were always promising to Pandavas.” Duryodhana said in extreme grief “Oh! Ashwaththama, I cannot tolerate the humiliation and pain of failure on the battlefield even after having a huge army of warriors.  I would have satisfied if I could kill anyone of the Pandavas on the battlefield.  The Pandavas minimum number of warriors and had immense assistance of Krishna and won the battle.” Ashwaththama rushed to fulfill the desire of his closest associates.  


In Hasthinapur, Lord Krishna who is Thrikalajjyani/knower of past, present, and future, advised the Pandavas to join with him in the celebration of victory in the battlefield, he took the five Pandavas from their chamber.  Later, the chamber of the Pandavas was occupied by their five sons. Ashwaththama entered the chamber and brutally killed the five sons of Pandavas and took their heads to Duryodhana who wept bitterly seeing the heads of children of Pandava “ Oh! Ashwaththama you have committed a grave sin, I wanted the head of Pandavas, not their children.  I have not meant the end of the Pandava clan.’ Duryodhana left his mortal coil in intense guilt.



Arjuna promised to kill the murderer who caused the death of their five children after seeing the miserable condition of Draupadi, he took a vow “ Oh! Devi, I will produce the murderer before you, and you can kill him.” Arjuna chased Ashwaththama in the chariot driven by Lord Krishna.  Ashwaththama shot Bhramasthra but it was annulled by Arjuna with another Bhramasthra, as per the advice of Krishna.  He ran after Ashwaththama and fastened him with the rope, carried to the palace in the chariot.  He produced Ashwatthama before Draupadi and requested her to announce the death punishment.  But she rushed to Ashwatthtama and was unfastening the rope, everyone was stunned, she said “ Maharaj, it is the son of your preceptor.  He is a Brahmin,  he should not be killed, I do not want his mother to undergo the pain and agony of mine.  Therefore kindly release him.” Yudhishtira was pleased with the thought of Drupadi.  Bhima announced, he will kill Ashwaththama whatever happens, that would be final.  Arjuna was in dilemma, he had already promised, he cannot wave off his promise, he cannot go against his elder brother's verdict as well.  He looked at Krishna with folded hands “Oh! Parththasarathe, you are our ultimate asylum, kindly advise me.” Krishna replied “Oh! Arjuna, Ashwaththama is a Bhramin and son of your preceptor, killing a Brahmin would bring the sin of Bhramahathya, so he should not be killed.  You have to follow the orders of your elder brother Yudhishtira.  The Dharmashasthra says whoever commits heinous crime should deserve death punishment.   It is considered that humiliation to a Bhramin by shutting him out or shaving his tuft, is equivalent to his death.  So do what is appropriate for the situation.”  Arjuna understood the complex advice of Lord Krishna, he plucked the precious gem from his forehead and thrown him out of the palace that was equivalent to death punishment to Ashwaththama.