After the Mahabharata War, Lord Krishna who knows the
past, present and the future suggested to the Pandavas that they must camp on
the grounds of Kurukshetra knowing very well that Ashwatama would go to their camp
on a killing spree.
As per Krishna’s advice, the Pandavas camped on the
grounds of Kurukshetra while their sons the Upapandavas along with
Drishtadyumnan and many other soldiers stayed at the main camp.
Ashwatama wanted to seek revenge as the Pandavas had
destroyed the Kauravas while Drishtadyumnan had killed his father Dronacharyar.
Dronacharyar had cast away his weapons and sat down in a meditative pose in
order to leave his body as he was sad because he believed that Ashwatama was dead.
As Dronacharyar was meditating, Drishtadyumnan rushed towards him and cut-off
his head. Ashwatama couldn’t forget the cruel way in which his father had been
killed by Drishtadyumnan.
Ashwatama
was mulling over ways to avenge the Kauravas when he saw an owl destroy the
nest of its enemies at night. The crows were fast asleep while the owl swept
upon them and killed the crows before they could even open their eyes. Ashwatama
immediately obtained the idea to kill his enemy the very same night while they
were all fast asleep.
Ashwatama
performed a short penance which pleased Lord Shiva instantly. He wished to
obtain a boon that he must not be defeated by anyone that night. Lord Siva
after consulting with lord Krishna granted Ashwatama the boon.
Ashwatama entered the Pandava camp and killed everyone. None
of the soldiers could fight against Ashwatama. They were terrified by Ashwatama’s
super human strength. Not a single warrior was spared. Mistaking the Upapandavas
to be the Pandavas, he killed them as well.
In the morning, Draupadi was shocked to see the scene of
massacre and her dead children. Arjuna and Lord Krishna went in search of
Ashwatama. As they cornered Ashwatama, he shot the Brahmasiras weapon. The
Brahmasiras weapon is a terrible weapon equivalent to modern day nuclear
weapon. Fearing the annihilation of the entire country, Lord Krishna asked
Arjuna to counter the weapon.
‘Recall what Dronacharyar taught you and counter this
weapon immediately!’
‘Dronacharyar hasn’t taught me anything about this
weapon,’ said Arjuna.
‘Dronacharyar has broken the promise he had made to you
to teach you about all the weapons. He not only broke his promise but taught
about this weapon to Ashwatama knowing very well that Ashwatama is unstable and
couldn’t be trusted with such knowledge!’ said Lord Krishna.
‘Dronacharyar hasn’t taught me about this weapon but I
have learnt about this weapon from another guru. I will counter the weapon by
launching a second Brahmasiras weapon so that it can neutralize the first one
launched by Ashwatama.’
Arjuna and Krishna
captured Ashwatama and dragged him to stand trial before Yudhishtirar.
‘Draupadi!’ thundered Arjuna, ‘look I have brought before
you the child murderer.’
Draupadi looked up towards Ashwatama. Her face was tear-stained.
Despite her sorrow, she stood up with folded palms.
‘I don’t see any murderer but I only see our Acharyan’s
son. I know the sorrow of losing a child, let not Dronacharyar’s dharmapatni go
through what I am feeling. Killing him will not bring our children back to
life. Please set him free. Our Acharyan’s wife
is already sad as a result of Dronacharyar’s demise. We shouldn’t take away her
only support.’
Yudhishtirar applauded Draupadi. Even though it was
against the shastras to applaud ones wife openly in the court, Yudhishtirar
praised Draupadi for forgiving Ashwatama. She had put an end to vendetta.
‘Arjuna please releases Ashwatama,’ said Yudhishtirar.
Bhīma jumped up from his throne in anger. ‘Arjuna, I am
your older brother as well. I order you to kill Ashwatama!’
After realizing that the murderer who had killed their
sons was their Acharyan’s son Ashwatama, both Draupadi and Yudhishtirar
pardoned him while Bhīma ordered Arjuna to kill Ashwatama.
‘Krishna what should I do now?’ asked Arjuna. ‘Yudhishtirar
and Draupadi wish me to spare Ashwatama’s life while Bhīma has ordered me to
kill Ashwatama.’
Lord Krishna advised Arjuna to please Bhīma, Yudhishtirar
as well as Draupadi by taking away the chintamani gem from Ashwatama’s
forehead.
‘Humiliation is equal to death. Release Ashwatama after
taking away his chintamani jewel. He will lose his tejas along with his powers.
It will be a living death for him.’
Ashwatama had been born with the chintamani gem and he
lost his lustre after it was cut-off.
Ashwatama didn’t realize his mistake even after he had
been pardoned. He cast another weapon to destroy all Pandavas. Lord Krishna
once again protected the Pandavas from being destroyed but the intensity of the
weapon hurt Abhimanyu’s son growing in the womb of Uttara. Uttara performed
saranagathi at the Lord’s feet and Lord Krishna protected the fetus. The child
took birth as King Parikshit who attained Mukthi by listening to Bagawatha
Saptaham.
Esoteric Meaning:
In the above narration, Abhimanyu who had been destroyed
in the war represents ego. The Upapandavas represent the Sanchita Karmas. Ashwatama
is the Brahman who enters the camp to destroy the Sanchita Karma performed by
the five pranas (5 Pandavas) in order to free the soul. The taking away of the
chintamani gem from Ashwatama represents the learning of Brahma Vidhya. The
knowledge of Brahma Vidhya is obtained and the soul becomes realized. It is
said that a man takes birth as his own son. Thus Parikshit, Abhimanyu’s son is
shown to take birth as a realized soul. Parikshit was the only person who saw
the Lord even when he was still in his mother’s womb. In later posts we will
examine Parikshit’s ascent to Sri Vaikuntham.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.