||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.
