Introduction of Ashwathama
Dronacharya and Kripi’s son, Ashwathama, commonly known as Drauni (sister of Kripacharya). He and his father participated in the Kurukshetra battle between the Kauravas and Pandavas in the Mahabharata.
He is one of the seven Chiranjivi and is regarded as an incarnation of Shiva (immortal living beings in Hinduism who are to remain alive on Earth until the end of the current Kali Yuga.)
Dronacharya and Kripi, his parents, begged God to grant him supernatural prowess since they both yearned for an everlasting kid. He was given the name Ashwathama, which means “holy voice of a horse,” since he cried like a horse when he was born. According to legend, Lord Shiva gave him superhuman strength after hearing his parents’ prayers for him, making him so unkillable that not even other gods like Lord Krishna could harm him.
In addition to being immune to hunger, exhaustion, and thirst, Ashwathama possessed a gem (mani) lodged in his forehead that would shield him from nightmares, snake bites, animals, spirits, and even unnatural death. This implied that he could go for several days without food or liquids.
As time passed, Ashwathama fulfilled the expectations placed in him and turned into a follower of Lord Shiva. His inability to manage his fury, which turned out to be his most vulnerable quality, was his worst flaw.
Ashwathama practically lived in abject poverty throughout his whole infancy, lacking even the resources to purchase enough food, milk, veggies, or fruits. That is due to Guru Dronacharya’s lack of wealth and possessions. Even though he was adept in combat, he found managing the home to be quite challenging. So Dronacharya made the decision one day to ask King Dhrupad, a friend and old classmate, for assistance. However, Dhrupad ridiculed him and informed him that a monarch and a beggar cannot be friends rather than offering to assist him.
This is what Dronacharya told his brother-in-law Kripacharya, who invited him to Hastinapur and presented him to Bhishma, who hired Dronacharya to instruct the Pandavas and Kauravas at Hastinapur (his twin sister Kripi was married to Drona). Along with them, Ashwathama also picked up some warfare skills.
The most important lesson to take away from Ashwathama’s life is that everyone has both good and bad traits, but how and when a person utilises them determines whether or not that person does good or evil, and that person will ultimately pay for his deeds.
Dronacharya unexpectedly declined Ashwathama’s request for victory before the combat, telling him to prevail on his own merits. Ashwathama had prayed to his father for success before the battle.’
Birth of Ashwathama
It is believed that Ashwathama is a partial manifestation of Lord Shiva. It is practically impossible for anybody to kill or defeat him since he was born a Chiranjivi.
He was endowed at birth with a gem (mani) on his forehead that gives him superior strength to all other species of life. He is shielded from tiredness, thirst, and hunger as well.
Dronacharya was a military guru. However, because Drona had a modest Brahmin life, he was unable to even purchase milk for his son. He asks his buddy Ruler Drupada for assistance, but he was turned down because a king and a beggar cannot be friends.
Astwathama killed the son of Pandavas:
The surviving Kauravas soldiers, including Ashwathama, launched a terrible effort to assassinate the Pandavas brothers in the middle of the night when they would be asleep after Duryodhana was murdered by Bheema (Bhima).
That evening, Ashwathama accidentally killed all five of the Pandavas’ sleeping sons and set the camp on fire. Krishna had already taken all five of the Pandavas somewhere else.
The Pandavas were inconsolable when they learnt of this terrible tragedy and arrived back at the camp. To find Ashwathama, they travelled to Sage Vyasa’s ashram. The Brahmastra evolved into the Brahmashirsha Astra, which used a meteor shower to destroy the enemy. Sacred mantras may be chanted into any object, even a blade of grass, to summon this weapon.
Arjuna directs Ashwathama with the same Astra that he learned from Drona. Vyasa commanded both warriors to lay down their swords as the strong Astra approached in a direct line, bringing the entire world to complete extinction.
Because Drona never showed Ashwathama how to remove this sword, he is unable to do so, unlike Arjuna who was able to do so. He is only allowed to use this weapon once because of this restriction.
In an effort to destroy the lineage of the Pandavas, he intentionally pointed his weapon towards Uttara, the pregnant wife of Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna, rather than a far location where this Astra could detonate safely.
Positive impact:
He was a strong warrior who was skilled in every manner of combat techniques. Being a Maharathi, he was able to combat several warriors at once while firing arrows in a straight line, one after the other. He also acquired several heavenly weapons.
However, he ventured to warn Duryodhan not to go to battle and avert the carnage, in contrast to Bhishma Pitamah, Dushasana, and Karna who avoided calling a spade a spade. Yudhisthir, Balarama, and Bheema all regarded Ashwathama as a close friend. He felt no animosity for the Pandavas, not even on the battlefield. He attempted to persuade Duryodhan to end the battle multiple times even while it was still going on, but he persisted in fighting since it was his dharma.
Thus, he had the power to alter history if he so desired, but when he learned how his father was slain, he was unable to suppress his rage.
Negative impact:
No person could stop him once he lost control of his rage.
When Ashwathama was chosen to lead the Kaurava Army toward the end of the conflict, he flagrantly flouted the principle that no war should be waged in the setting sun.
Ashwathama, Kripacharya, and Kritavarma attacked the Pandava camp in the middle of the night and killed Dhrishtadyumna, Shikhandi, Yudhamanyu, Uttama Ujas, and many other notable warriors of the Pandava army because he was so furious after learning that Duryodhan was seriously wounded and about to die. Even the sleeping troops and the five Pandava sons were not spared. One of the most unethical and immoral periods of the war was this one.
Why was Ashwathama cursed by Lord Krishna?
Ashwatthama was ordered to give up the jewel on his forehead as a form of penance. After that, Krishna cursed Ashwatthama for 3000 years, causing him to wander the jungles while bleeding and leaking puss from his wounds and wailing for death.
Death would not encounter him since he had no fear of dying during the conflict. He won’t get any hospitality or lodging, and he’ll live in complete solitude with no physical connections to people or civilization.
His forehead will sustain a wound from the removal of this gem that won’t mend, and his body will be afflicted by a variety of fatal illnesses that will produce sores and ulcers that won’t go away for three thousand years.
Conclusion
In and around the Narmada river in India, it is said that he is still active on Earth. However, another episode from the Mahabharata disproves this theory.
According to the Kannada translation of the Mahabharata, Ashwathama contacted Parshurama and pleaded with him to save him from the wrath of Lord Krishna. Ashwathama easily accepted his apprentice because he was merely acting in accordance with Lord Shiva’s orders to eradicate evil from the earth.
According to popular belief, Lord Shiva took on the shape of Ashwathama on purpose in order to banish all evil from the planet.
The greatest form of devotion, Sakthi worship, was thought to have been introduced to Ashwatthama by Parasurama and Sage Durvasa. Ashwatthama avoided Lord Krishna’s punishment in this way.
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