In the Hindu Epic Mahabharata, Ashwatthama or Drauni is the…

According to the Mahabharata, Ashwatthama means the sacred sound associated with the sound of a horse. He was given the name Ashwatthama because when he was born, he cried like a horse.

Here are some interesting facts about Ashwatthama.

- Ashwathama is one of the Ashta Chiranjeevi, Eight Immortals. Ashwatthama was born with a jewel on his forehead, giving him power over all living beings lower than humans. The jewel protected him from hunger, thirst, and fatigue.

- His strength is almost equal to Arjuna’s, especially in archery. Among the Kuru princes, he was good friends with Duryodhan, the eldest son of Dhritarashtra. They both have jealousy towards the Pandavas.

Duryodhan felt that Yudhisthir was his obstacle in inheriting the throne of Hastinapur, while Arjun’s talent made Ashwatthama jealous because he felt that his father’s love had been divided. After all, Arjuna was Drona’s favourite student.

- After learning that his father was killed due to deception, Ashwatthama was angry. He issued Narayanastra weapons to destroy the Pandavas. The weapons production was accompanied by strong winds, lightning strikes, and the appearance of millions of arrows ready to target...

...every armed person in the Pandava fort. This frightened the Pandavas until finally, Krishna told everyone in the Pandava camp to drop their weapons and surrender to Narayanastra. As the avatar of Vishnu (Narayana), Krishna knew that Narayanastra only attacked armed people.

After everyone in the Pandavas camp dropped their weapons, Narayanastra lost its target and returned to Ashwatthama.

- Ashwatthama initiated an attack in the night, which was opposed by Kripa as it was an unfair act. Ashwatthama also stated that war was indeed unfair...

...and that all parties were unfair.
In the end, Krupa and Kertawarma continued to follow Ashwatthama’s instructions to carry out a night attack on the Pandavas camp. At the gate to the camp, the three of them were confronted by a giant guard.

All the weapons that Ashwatthama launched were incapable of defeating the creature. Then Ashwatthama asked Bhagwan Shiv for help. The god appeared and gave powers like Rudra to Ashwatthama, who made him invincible and managed to enter the Pandava camp easily.

Ashwatthama searched for Dristadyumna’s tent at first
and then killed him. The commotion made Srikandhi and Panchakumara (five sons of the Pandavas) get up and rush to the Dristadyumna tent. However, they were killed by Ashwatthama, who had obtained power from Shiva.

Ashwatthama also killed Yudamanyu, Utamoja, and the knights in the camp, then went on a rampage like Rudra.

At the end of Sauptika Parva of Mahabharat, it is stated that Krishna cursed Ashwatthama to suffer from leprosy and wander on Earth until the end of the Kaliyuga era.

Ashwatthama was also forced to hand over the precious gemstone attached to his forehead, a jewel that made him not afraid of any weapon, disease, or hunger and made him fearless of gods, giants, demons, and dragons.

After the jewels were removed, the sticky marks left a wound on his forehead, which gave off unpleasant-smelling blood that would never stop flowing until the end of Kalyug.

Many people describe many incidences that they have seen Ashwatthama and even communicated with him.

- A newspaper article spanning over a decade spoke of a retired railway employee.During his wanderings in the jungles of Gujarat,he saw a very tall man of about 12ft with a head wound.He claimed to have a conversation with him&learned that Bheem was much taller&stronger than him

-When in 1192, Prithviraj Chauhan lost the battle to Mohammad Ghori, he left for the jungle. There he met an elderly person with a scar on his head. Being an excellent doctor, Prithviraj Chauhan confided to him that he could heal his scar.

The old man agreed. But even after the week’s treatment, it remained as it is. Prithviraj was surprised and understood the details. He asked the old man if it is Ashwatthama. The old man said he was Ashwatthama and then left.

This description is given in Prithviraj Raso,the book written about him in 12thcentury

-As per another legend,in a village near Burhanpur,there is an old fort called Asirgarh. Ashwatthama is believed to offer flowers to a Shiv ling there.This came up on some news channels.

In the Hindu Epic Mahabharata, Ashwatthama or Drauni is the son of Dronacharya and the grandson of the Bharadwaj Rishi. Ashwatthama was a Maharathi who fought alongside the Kauravas against the Pandavas in the Kurukshetra War.

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