Bhagavad Gita · Mahabharata Codex

Ashvatthama

अश्वत्थामा · aśvatthāmā

Son of Drona; warrior of the Kaurava army

The war was over. He went back at night and made it worse.

Ashvatthama was born with a jewel in his forehead and cried at birth like a horse, which gave him his name. His father's death by trickery maddened him. On the last night he entered the sleeping Pandava camp and slaughtered everyone there, including Draupadi's five sons. Then he aimed a weapon at the unborn child of Abhimanyu. Krishna saved the child and condemned Ashvatthama to wander the earth alone for three thousand years.