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67-588: Sauptika Parva is mainly the story of the revenge of the 3 survivors of the Kaurava army - Ashwatthama , Kritavarma and Kripacharya . These 3 attacked the Pandava camp at night, when everyone was sleeping, or inactive. Ashwatthama killed several warriors of the Pandava camp, such as the commander Dhrishtadyumna , the Upapandavas , Shikhandini , Uttamaujas , Yudhamanyu and several others. Eventually, only 8 participants of

134-571: A 15 volume set of the Mahabharata which includes a translation of Souptika Parva by Kate Crosby. This translation is modern and uses an old manuscript of the Epic. The translation does not remove verses and chapters now widely believed to be spurious and smuggled into the Epic in 1st or 2nd millennium AD. Debroy, in 2011, notes that updated critical edition of Shalya Parva, after removing verses and chapters generally accepted so far as spurious and inserted into

201-401: A beggar could be his friend. This outraged Drona and he wanted revenge. Acquisition of weapons There was a sage named Agnivesha who was the former disciple of Drona's father, Bharadwaja . Agnivesha studied the use of weapons from the sage, Agastya , and passed his knowledge to Drona and Drupada. Many years later, Drona heard that the sage Parashurama was donating his wealth. However, by

268-404: A golden altar manifested before him and he offered himself as a sacrificial libation in exchange for passage into the camp. Shiva appeared in his true form in front of Ashwatthama and offered him a divine sword. Then Shiva himself entered the body of Ashwatthama, making him completely unstoppable. After Ashwatthama entered the camp, he first kicked and awakened Dhrishtadyumna , the commander of

335-568: A gross violation of the rules of war. Arjuna would condemn Dhrishtadyumna for this act. Drona was somewhat parallel to Bhishma both in martial powers, and, compelled by the refuge King Dhritarashtra had given him, in his unwavering commitment to fighting for Hastinapura irrespective of who the ruler was and whether or not the cause was just. Drona is often accused of dragging the Kuru dynasty into his own personal conflicts when he demanded his pupils to capture Drupada . This action would ultimately lead

402-620: A horse. Some of his other names are: Ashwatthama was the son of Drona , and Kripi . He was born in a cave in a forest (in present-day Tapkeshwar Mahadev Temple, Dehradun , Uttarakhand ). Drona performed many years of severe penance to please Shiva in order to obtain a son who possessed the same valiance as Shiva. He was born with a divine gem on his forehead which gave him power over all living beings lower than humans; it also protected him from hunger, thirst, fatigue, old age, diseases, weapons, and deities. The gem made him almost invincible and immortal. Though an expert in warfare, Drona lived

469-509: A plan to disarm Drona by some means of contrivance. Bhima would then proceed to kill an elephant named Ashwatthama, and then claim to Drona that he has killed his son. Disbelieving his claim, Drona approached Yudhishthira, knowing of Yudhishthira's firm adherence to Dharma and honesty. When Drona asked for the truth, Yudhishthira responded with "Ashwatthama is dead, the elephant." Adding the word elephant indistinctly so that Drona could not hear it. Dhrishtadyumna used this opportunity to kill

536-728: A revered figure in Hindu history, and a pillar of the Indian tradition of respecting one's teacher as an equal not only of parents, but even of God. The Government of India annually awards the Dronacharya Award for excellence in sports tutelage to the best sports teachers and coaches in India . It is believed that the city of Gurgaon ( lit.   ' Village of the Guru ' ) was founded as "Guru Gram" by Dronacharya on land given to him by Dhritarashtra ,

603-623: A sacrificial yagna in order to beget a son who would kill Drona. The sages Upayaja and Yaja helped him to beget such a son Dhrishtadyumna . The sacrificial fire also yielded a daughter, Draupadi . Droṇa received the Brahmastra from Parashurama . Parashurama imparted knowledge of celestial weapons to Drona along with the mantra of invocation and withdrawal of weapons. He had a huge range of weapons like Brahmastra, Brahmashira, Narayanastra, Rudra, Agneya, Vajra etc. Nakula received this sword from Drona. Drona received Brahmashira from Guru Agnivesha and he

670-427: A serious fight. Drona sent Ashwatthama to stop the fight because seeing this the citizens may get triggered by their fight. Then, Arjuna entered the hall with much appreciation and praises from the citizen of Hastinapura. He showed various archery skills to the people. Drona impressed by his beloved student Arjuna's skills then declared that Arjuna is the greatest archer in the world. Then, Karna gatecrashed and entered

737-472: A simple life with little money or property. As a result, Ashwatthama had a difficult childhood, with his family not even being able to afford milk. Wanting to provide a better life for his family, Drona went to the Panchala Kingdom to seek aid from his former classmate and friend, Drupada , who had promised Drona that when he became king, he would share half of his kingdom with him. However, Drupada rebuked

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804-544: A terrible war between both armies took place. Seeing his Narayanastra fail to kill the Pandavas, Ashwatthama invoked the Agneyastra and launched it toward all the visible and invisible foes. The weapon soon overpowered and encompassed Arjuna with several fiery flaming arrows and created havoc within the Pandava army. Upon witnessing this sight and realising the seriousness of the situation, Arjuna used his Varunastra to subdue

871-712: Is Bharadwaja (grandfather of Ashwatthama), same as the one which Pallavas have attributed to themselves in their records. There is a shrine for Ashwatthama in the famous Ananthapadmanabhaswamy temple of Thiruvananthapuram . The Sapta Chiranjivi Stotram is a mantra that is featured in Hindu literature : अश्वत्थामा बलिर्व्यासो हनुमांश्च विभीषण:। कृप: परशुरामश्च सप्तैतै चिरञ्जीविन:॥ सप्तैतान् संस्मरेन्नित्यं मार्कण्डेयमथाष्टमम्। जीवेद्वर्षशतं सोपि सर्वव्याधिविवर्जितः॥ aśvatthāmā balirvyāsō hanumāṁśca vibhīṣaṇaḥ। kṛpaḥ paraśurāmaśca saptaitai cirañjīvinaḥ॥ saptaitān saṁsmarēnnityaṁ mārkaṇḍēyamathāṣṭamam। jīvēdvarṣaśataṁ sopi sarvavyādhivivarjitaḥ॥ The mantra states that

938-528: Is able to bypass his guru. On the 14th night of the Mahabharata war, Drona is instigated by Duryodhana's remarks of being a traitor as he was not able to protect Jayadratha. Sensing his end is near, he used the Brahmastra against the common Pandava soldiers. At that moment, all the Saptarshi appeared on the sky and requested Drona to retract this ultimate weapon used on ordinary soldiers. Drona obeyed, retracting

1005-643: Is guru to the Pandavas, Kauravas, Jayadratha, and Ashwatthama , his son. Drona's name means vessel, bucket, or quiver. He had many other names, including: On a river side, Sage Bharadwaja saw an apsara named Ghritachi . He was filled with desire and his seed fell into a pot or basket. Inside it, a child developed who was named Drona because he was born in a pot and was brought to the ashram. In Sage Bharadwaja's ashram, his son Drona and Prince Drupada were educated. Drona and Drupada became best friends, and Drupada promises to share his wealth and kingdom with Drona when he becomes king. Time passed, and Drupada became

1072-447: Is impressed with Abhimanyu and praises him endlessly, earning the ire of Duryodhana . With his army facing decimation and spurred on by Duryodhana's criticisms, Drona asked the Kaurava warriors to simultaneously attack Abhimanyu, to strike down his horses and his charioteer and to disable his chariot from different angles. Left without support, Abhimanyu began fighting from the ground. Exhausted after his long and prodigious feats, Abhimanyu

1139-422: Is stopped by Dhristadyumna . Drona severely wounds his friend's son, disarming him and forcing him to retreat. When he attempts to chase after Dhristadyumna, he is checked by Satyaki , who insults his teacher's teacher and issues a challenge. Their combat is described as fierce and despite being able to hold off Drona for several hours, Satyaki eventually tires and has to be rescued by the Upapandavas . Later in

1206-460: The Chakravyuha strategy to capture Yudhishtira, knowing that only Arjuna and Krishna would know how to penetrate it. The Trigartas were distracting Arjuna and Krishna into another part of the battlefield, allowing the main Kaurava army to surge through the Pandava ranks. Unknown to many, Arjuna's young son Abhimanyu had the knowledge to penetrate the formation but did not know the way out. At

1273-535: The Hindu epic Mahabharata . In the epic, he serves as the royal preceptor of the Kauravas and the Pandavas . He is one of the primary counsellors and warriors featured in the epic. He is a friend of Sukracharya , the guru of the asuras , as well as Mahabali . He is described to be the son of the sage Bharadvaja , and a descendant of the sage Angirasa . The preceptor is a master of advanced military arts, including

1340-507: The Pandavas defeated Drupada and presented him before Drona. Drona took the northern half of Drupada's kingdom and crowned Ashwatthama as its king, with its capital at Ahichchhatra . When Hastinapura offered Drona the privilege of teaching the Kauravas , both Drona and Ashwatthama became loyal to Hastinapura and fought on the side of the Kauravas in the Kurukshetra war. On the 14th day of

1407-464: The 10th day, he became the Chief Commander of the Kaurava army on the 11th day of war. Duryodhana manages to convince Drona to try to end the war by capturing Yudhishthira . Though he killed hundreds and thousands of Pandava troops, Drona failed to capture Yudhishthira on the 11th and 12th day of the war, as Arjuna was always there to repel his advances. On the 13th day of the war, Drona formed

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1474-508: The Commander-in-Chief after Shalya was slain earlier during the day. Along with Kripa and Kritavarma , Ashwatthama planned to attack the Pandavas' camp at night. When Ashwatthama reached there, he encountered Shiva in a terrifying ghost form guarding the Pandavas' camp. Not recognizing him, Ashwatthama fearlessly started attacking the terrifying ghost with all his powerful weapons but failed to inflict even any damage upon it. Shortly,

1541-513: The Kingdom of Panchala developing hostile relations with Hastinapura. Drona was also notably silent during Draupadi 's disrobing as he was afraid of antagonizing the Kauravas. Drona was criticized for many of his actions during the war: Drona's overarching actions during the war are portrayed differently. When he became commander-in-chief , the rules of war were averted. Divine weapons were used against ordinary soldiers, war continued throughout

1608-474: The Kuru princes, he demanded that they invade Panchala and bring Draupada as their Gurudakshina. Arjuna succeeds in defeating Drupada and brings the captured king to Drona. Drona reminds Drupada about their days of friendship and his false promise before taking away half of the Panchala kingdom. Drona would make Ashwatthama the king of the annexed half of the Panchala kingdom. This action would lead Drupada to perform

1675-597: The Pandava army and the killer of his father. Ashwatthama strangled the half-awake Dhrishtadyumna as the prince begged to be allowed to die with a sword in his hand, ultimately choking him to death. Ashwatthama proceeded with butchering the remaining warriors, including Shikhandi , Uttamaujas, Yudhamanyu , Upapandavas and many other prominent warriors of the Pandava army. Even though many warriors tried to fight back, Ashwatthama remained unharmed due to his body being possessed by Shiva . Those who tried to flee from Ashwatthama's wrath were hacked down by Kripa and Kritavarma at

1742-489: The Pandavas became inconsolable. Bhima angrily rushed to kill Drona's son. They found him at Sage Vyasa 's ashram near the bank of the Ganges . Ashwatthama, believing his time had come, invoked the Brahmastra against the Pandavas from a tiny blade of grass to fulfill the oath of killing them. Krishna told Arjuna to fire his own Brahmastra as an anti-weapon against Ashwatthama to defend themselves. Vyasa intervened and prevented

1809-575: The Pandya Kingdom, one of the mightiest warriors of the Pandavas, fought against Ashwatthama. After a long duel of archery between them, Ashwatthama rendered Malayadhvaja weaponless and got an opportunity to kill him on the spot, but he spared him temporarily for more fighting. Malayadhvaja then proceeded against Ashwatthama on an elephant and threw a powerful lance, which destroyed the latter's diadem. Ashwathama beheaded Malaydhavaja, cut his arms and also killed six followers of Malayadhvaja. Seeing this, all

1876-409: The arena and surpassed everyone's expectations and performances with the permission of Drona. He then challenged Arjuna for a duel and Kripa demanded that Karna state his lineage. Karna could not answer as he does not know who are his real parents. Duryodhana then made Karna the king of Anga. Then sunset occurred and the duel of Karna and Arjuna was stopped. After Drona completed the formal training of

1943-428: The art of maces, Ashwatthama excelled in the use of astras, Nakula and Sahadeva excelled in swordsmanship, Yudhishthira excelled in charioteering, and Arjunaexcelled in archery. When Arjuna, inspired by his brother Bhima 's nocturnal eating, mastered archery in absolute darkness, Drona was moved. Drona was greatly impressed by Arjuna's concentration, determination, and drive, and promised him that he would become

2010-497: The camp's entrances. After the slaughter, the three warriors returned to Duryodhana . After relaying to him the deaths of all the Panchalas and the Upapandavas , he congratulated Ashwatthama for achieving what Bhishma , Drona , and Karna could not before breathing his last breath. The Pandavas and Krishna , who were away during the night, now returned to their camp. Hearing the news of these events, Yudhishthira fainted, and

2077-509: The day, Yudhishthira sends Satyaki to aid Arjuna. When Satyaki comes upon Drona, he circumvents him, saying he must follow in his teacher's footsteps. When Yudhishthira later sends Bhima , Drona recounts what happened with Arjuna and Satyaki, and hence makes sure he does not allow Bhima also to circumvent him. Angrily rebuking him, Bhima shatters Drona's chariot with his mace. Drona takes up another chariot, only for Bhima to smash that one as well. In total, Bhima smashes eight of Drona's chariots and

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2144-512: The demonstration of weapon-game by the princes. An arena was prepared. Drona entered the arena. Drona worshiped the gods as a form of preparatory rites. Then he invited the Brahmins to bless his disciples. After that the students gave gold, precious stones, clothes and other valuables to the teacher. The teacher blessed him. With this the demonstration started. Bhima and Duryodhana showed their skills by fighting with each other. The mock fight turned into

2211-452: The destructive weapons from clashing against each other. He asked both Arjuna and Ashwatthama to take their weapons back. Arjuna, knowing how to do so, took it back. Ashwatthama, not knowing how, redirected the Brahmastra toward the womb of the pregnant Uttara in an attempt to end the lineage of the Pandavas. Krishna saved Uttara's unborn child from the effects of the Brahmastra, on the request of Draupadi, Subhadra, and Sudeshna. Ashwatthama

2278-406: The divine weapons known as astras . He serves as the second commander-in-chief of the Kaurava army, from the 11th day to the 15th day. The acharya fails four times in capturing Yudhishthira (the 11th day, 12th day, 14th day, and the 14th night). He was beheaded by Dhrishtadyumna when he meditates to release his soul on the battlefield. It is said that Drona is an incarnation of Shukracharya. He

2345-477: The education of the Kuru princes. After being insulted by Drupada, Drona and his family went to live with his brother-in-law, Kripa , in Hastinapura. There, Drona encountered the young Kuru princes and demonstrated his skill by pulling their ball from a well using only stalks of grass attached from end-to-end with the power of mantras. Upon learning this feat, Bhishma immediately recognised Drona and appointed him as

2412-453: The effects of the Agneyastra, but by then it completely destroyed another Akshauhini of the Pandava army, which only Arjuna and Krishna managed to survive. This shocked Ashwatthama as he fled the battlefield confused and in doubt about his knowledge and skills. Later, Ashwatthama defeated Dhrishtadyumna in direct combat but failed to kill him as Satyaki and Bhima covered his retreat, in

2479-469: The entire Pandava army that day. Knowing it would be impossible to defeat an armed Drona that day since Arjuna refuses to kill his guru, Krishna suggests a plan to disarm Drona by some means of contrivance. Bhima would then proceed to kill an elephant named Ashwatthama, and then claim to Drona that he has killed his son. Disbelieving his claim, Drona approached Yudhishthira, knowing of Yudhishthira's firm adherence to Dharma and honesty. When Drona asked for

2546-626: The family legends of the Pallavas speak of an ancestor descending from Ashwatthama and his union with a Naga princess. It was the son born from this union, that would have started this dynasty. This claim finds support in the fact that Kanchipuram was where the Pallavas would dwell, and this was earlier a part of the Naga Kingdom . A further corroboration is that the gotra of the Pālave Maratha family

2613-431: The friendship, claiming that a king and a beggar cannot be friends, humiliating Drona. After this incident and seeing the plight of Drona, Kripa invited Drona to Hastinapura . Thus, Drona became the guru of both the Pandavas and the Kauravas . Ashwatthama was also trained in the art of warfare along with them. Ashwatthama becomes an expert in warfare, learning various secrets and divine weapons. During his time with

2680-480: The great warriors of the Kaurava army applauded Ashwatthama for his act. After the terrible death of Dushasana , Ashwatthama suggested Duryodhana make peace with the Pandavas, keeping in mind the welfare of Hastinapura . Later, after Duryodhana was struck down by Bhima and faced death, the last three survivors from the Kaurava side, Ashwatthama, Kripa , and Kritvarma , rushed to his side. Ashwatthama swore to bring Duryodhana revenge, and Duryodhana appointed him as

2747-525: The greatest archer on earth. Ekalavya , the son of a Nishadha chief, approached Drona seeking his instruction. But since Ekalavya belonged to the Nishada tribe, Drona refused to train him alongside the Kauravas and Pandavas. Undeterred, Ekalavya began study and practice by himself, having fashioned a clay idol of Drona's to watch over his training. Solely by his determination, Ekalavya became an archer of exceptional skill. One day, Ekalavya's focus in training

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2814-494: The grieving Drona as revenge against Drona's killing of his father, Drupada . After learning of the deceptive way his father was killed, Ashwatthama became filled with wrath and invoked the Narayanastra against the Pandavas. When the weapon was invoked, violent winds begin to blow, the sound of thunder echoed, and an arrow appeared for every Pandava soldier. Knowing that the astra ignores unarmed people, Krishna instructed all

2881-632: The king of Panchala, and Drona became a sage and teacher. Drona had a son named Ashwatthama . Drona was not interested in material wealth and became poor. Once, Drona's son Ashwatthama was playing with his friends. His friends were drinking milk and he wanted to drink it too. But his friends mixed flour with water and gave it to him. Ashamed of being unable to provide for his son due to his poverty, Drona remembers Drupada 's promise. He went to Drupada's palace in hopes that Drupada would remember his promise and share his wealth with him. But Drupada, having grown vain, refused. He also insulted Drona by asking how

2948-522: The night, warriors no longer engaged each other one-on-one, etc. Specifically, he was willing to try to end the war by capturing Yudhishthira , while Karna was not, as he considered it lacking honor. In other versions, Drona's differences in strategy are shown as a difference in philosophy - Drona believed, that as the commander-in-chief of the Kaurava army, his goal was to ensure the protection of his soldiers through any means necessary. The acharya remains

3015-491: The original, has 2 parts, 18 adhyayas (chapters) and 771 shlokas (verses). The entire parva has been "transcreated" and translated in verse by the poet Dr. Purushottama Lal published by Writers Workshop . Sauptika Parva , Chapter 2: All men are subjected to and governed by these two forces: Destiny and Exertion (Free will). There is nothing higher than these two. Our acts do not become successful in consequence of destiny alone, nor of exertion alone; Success springs from

3082-533: The powerful Manavastra arrow launched by an angry Arjuna towards Duryodhana . On the 10th day of the war, after Bhishma fell, Drona became the supreme commander of the armies. He promised Duryodhana that he would capture Yudhishthira , but he repeatedly failed to do so. Duryodhana taunted and insulted him, which greatly angered Ashwatthama, causing a rift between Ashwatthama and Duryodhana. Knowing it would be impossible to defeat an armed Drona that day since Arjuna refused to kill his guru, Krishna suggested

3149-443: The preceptor of the Kuru princes. But out of all of them, Arjuna stood was the most prominent. Once, Arjuna had saved Drona from a crocodile while the latter was bathing in a stream. As a reward, Drona gave Arjuna mantras to invoke the super-powerful divine weapon of Brahma known as Brahmashirshastra , but told Arjuna not to use this invincible weapon against any mortal. Under Drona's tutelage, Duryodhana and Bhima excelled in

3216-408: The princes, Duryodhana observed Ashwatthama's fondness for horses and gifted him a well-bred horse. In exchange, Duryodhana gained the personal allegiance of Ashwatthama to himself and, by extension, to the Kauravas, in addition to Drona's duty-bound allegiance to Hastinapura . When Drona asked his disciples to give him his dakṣiṇā ; requesting the capture of Drupada , while the Kauravas failed,

3283-480: The process engaging in a battle against Ashwatthama. Ashwatthama defeated both the warriors and made them retreat from the battlefield, as well. Ashwatthama fired millions of arrows at a time, which resulted in the stupefaction of Arjuna himself. Ashwatthama again tried to overpower Arjuna , but at last, Arjuna defeated him by piercing his body with several arrows which made him unconscious and his charioteer took Ashwatthama away from Arjuna. King Malayadhvaja of

3350-476: The remembrance of the eight immortals (Ashwatthama, Bali , Vyasa , Hanuman , Vibhishana , Kripa , Markandeya , and Parashurama ) offers one freedom from ailments and longevity. Original text online (in Sanskrit) Drona Droṇa ( Sanskrit : द्रोण , IAST : Droṇa ), also referred to as Dronacharya ( Sanskrit : द्रोणाचार्य , IAST : Droṇācārya ), is a major character of

3417-524: The request of Yudhishthira, Abhimanyu agreed to lead the way for the Pandava army and was able to penetrate the formation. However, he was trapped when Jayadratha , the King of Sindhu , held the Pandava warriors who were following him, at bay. Abhimanyu did not know how to get out of the Chakravyuha , but embarked upon an all-out attack on the Kaurava army, killing tens of thousands of warriors single-handedly. Drona

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3484-641: The same guru Drona that Arjuna was learning. Drona was in a tangle: on the one hand, he promised Arjuna that he would make him the greatest archer on earth; on the other hand, Ekalavya had indeed been training as his pupil without his consent, albeit being guided only by his idol. To resolve the matter, Drona accepted Ekalavya as his student, but demanded the thumb on his dominant hand as gurudakshina , or teacher's payment, in order to limit his abilities and further growth in archery, thus pacifying Arjuna. Ekalavya, being an exemplary disciple, immediately cut off his thumb and presented it to Drona. Dhritarashtra approved

3551-580: The seed produces great results. Human success is of this nature. Sometimes, Destiny, having settled a course of events, acts of itself (without waiting for exertion). The wise, aided by skill have recourse to exertion. All the purposes of human acts are accomplished by the aid of those two together. Influenced by these two, men are seen to strive or abstain. Those among men, that are idle and without intelligence, disapprove of exertion. Ashwatthama Ashwatthama ( Sanskrit : अश्वत्थामा , IAST : Aśvatthāmā ), also referred to as Drauni ,

3618-481: The time Drona reached Parashurama's hermitage in the Mahendra Mountain, the latter had already given away all his wealth. He had only his body and his weapons to give away. Drona chose to have Parashurama's weapons and acquired the knowledge of weapons from the sage. Thus, Drona was able to become a renowned warrior and an instructor of archery and other weapons. Drona along with Kripa was brought by Bhishma for

3685-423: The troops to abandon their chariots and disarm. After getting their soldiers to disarm (including Bhima with some difficulty), the astra passed by harmlessly. When urged by Duryodhana to use the weapon again, desirous of victory, Ashwatthama said that if the weapon were to be used again, it would turn on its user. The Narayanastra destroyed one Akshauhini of the Pandava army. However, after the use of Narayanastra,

3752-451: The truth, Yudhishthira responded with "Ashwatthama is dead, the elephant." Adding the word elephant indistinctly so that Drona could not hear it. Then Drona descended from his chariot, laid down his arms and sat on the ground in meditation to find his son's soul. Pandavas wanted to use this opportunity to arrest him, but enraged by the death of his father and several Panchala warriors, Dhrishtadyumna took this opportunity and beheads him, in

3819-408: The union of the two. It is through these two that men are seen to act as also to abstain. What result is produced by the clouds pouring upon a mountain? What results are not produced by them pouring upon a cultivated field? Exertion, where destiny is not auspicious, and absence of exertion where destiny is auspicious, both these are fruitless! If the rains properly moisten a well-tilled soil,

3886-647: The war from the Pandava camp - the Pandavas , Krishna , Satyaki and Yuyutsu - survive. This Parva (book) has 2 sub-parvas (parts or little books) and 18 adhyayas (sections, chapters). The following are the sub-parvas: Shalya Parva was composed in Sanskrit. Several translations of the book in English are available. Two translations from 19th century, now in public domain, are those by Kisari Mohan Ganguli and Manmatha Nath Dutt. The translations vary with each translator's interpretations. Clay Sanskrit Library has published

3953-534: The war, he killed a division of Rakshasas , including Anjanaparvan (the powerful son of Ghatotkacha ), and defeated Ghatotkacha, as well, but failed to counter his illusions. He also stood against Arjuna several times, trying to prevent him from reaching Jayadratha , but was defeated and ran away from the battlefield. However, during the entire process of protecting Jayadratha , Ashwatthama, at one point in time, successfully saved Duryodhana 's divine celestial armour and life by using his Sarvastra arrow and destroying

4020-408: The weapon. The rishis continue and berate Drona for violating the rules of war, criticizing him for using divine weapons so indiscriminately. On the 15th day, Drona kills many Pandava soldiers, including Virata in arrow-play and Drupada in a sword fight. Lamenting the deterioration of their friendship, Drona pays his respect to Drupada's corpse. Drona and his son Ashwatthama unleashed havoc upon

4087-440: Was Jayadratha and stood at the head of the box formation or Shakata vyuha In the early part of the day, Arjuna and he duel, and Arjuna is unable to bypass his preceptor. With Krishna's prodding, Arjuna circumvents Drona. When Duryodhana rages at Drona, Drona replies and that he intends to capture Yudhishthira while Arjuna is away and would only hasten their victory. In a notable battle, Drona attempts to capture Yudhishthira but

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4154-519: Was a warrior of the Indian epic, the Mahabharata . He is the son of Drona , and Kripi . In the Mahabharata, he served as a friend to Duryodhana , the eldest of the Kauravas . He was trained in warfare along with the Kauravas , and the Pandavas by his father, Drona . He is also described as a Maharathi who fought on the side of the Kauravas against the Pandavas in the Kurukshetra War , and

4221-415: Was also the student of Sage Bharadwaja. Drona had been the preceptor of most kings involved in the Kurukshetra War on both sides. Drona strongly condemned Duryodhana exiling the Pandavas, as well as the Kauravas' general abuse towards the Pandavas. But being a servant of Hastinapura , Drona was duty-bound to fight for the Kauravas, and thus against his favorite Pandavas. After the fall of Bhishma on

4288-410: Was cursed by Krishna with immortality for his attempt to kill Uttarā 's unborn child. Ashwatthama had gained knowledge of various divine weapons, namely the Narayanastra , Brahmastra , Brahmashirastra , and many others. According to the Mahabharata, Ashwatthama means "the sacred voice which relates to that of a horse". He is so-named because it is believed that when he was born, he cried out like

4355-419: Was disturbed by the barking of a dog belonging to the Kuru princes. Ekalavya fired arrows that filled up the dog's mouth without spilling blood or causing injury to the dog. The Kuru princes were amazed by the trick and looked for the archer when they saw Ekalavya, who introduced himself as a pupil of Drona's. This made Arjuna jealous and sad about Ekalavya's archery skills as he said that he learnt indirectly from

4422-527: Was eventually killed. After that, several who fought against Abhimanyu were criticized for their murder, such as Bhurishrava , Drona and Karna . The devious murder of his son enraged Arjuna, who swore to kill Jayadratha the next day or immolate himself. Drona constructed three combined vyuhas to protect Jayadratha, first was the Shakata vyuha then was Padma Vyuha and last was the Srigantaka vyuha and at its rear

4489-441: Was then made to surrender the gem on his forehead and cursed by Krishna that he would roam in the forests till the end of Kali yuga with blood and pus oozing out of his injuries, and with no one to talk to. Ashwatthama then went to the forest never to be seen again. A theory is proposed by historians R. Sathianathaier and D. C. Sircar, with endorsements by Hermann Kulke, Dietmar Rothermund and Burton Stein. Sircar points out that

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