Aśvatthāmā, Rudra on the Kaurava Side

Droṇa's prayer

Droṇa was born, without a womb, to the sage Bharadvāja from a portion of Bṛhaspati — a master of the Vedas and of every weapon, the teacher of the Kauravas and one of their six great chariot-warriors.

To help the Kauravas, Droṇa did great tapas to Śiva, wishing for a son. Śiva appeared and told him to ask for a boon. Droṇa asked: give me a son of your own portion, mighty, unconquerable by anyone. So be it, said Śiva, and vanished. Droṇa went home and told his wife everything. And in time Rudra, who ends all things, was born from his own portion as Droṇa's son: lotus-eyed, mighty, a destroyer of enemies. His name was Aśvatthāmā.

The shield of the Kauravas

In the great war he fought for the Kauravas at his father's command. Because they sheltered behind him, the Purāṇa says, Bhīṣma and the Kaurava champions became unconquerable even to the gods, and the Pāṇḍavas, wise and brave as they were, could not defeat them for fear of him. So Arjuna, on Kṛṣṇa's advice, did hard tapas to Śiva and received a weapon from him.

Aśvatthāmā, pleased by the Kauravas' devotion to him, killed the young sons of the Pāṇḍavas. Not even Kṛṣṇa could stop his strength.

Brahmaśiras

When he saw Arjuna coming for him on Kṛṣṇa's chariot, mad with grief for his sons, Aśvatthāmā fled — and loosed the weapon called Brahmaśiras. A blinding fire filled every direction. Arjuna lost his strength. Kṛṣṇa, what is this? he cried. Where does this unbearable fire come from?

Kṛṣṇa, great devotee of Śiva, meditated on Śiva and Pārvatī and said: this is the brahma weapon of Droṇa's son; there is no deadlier weapon. Think at once of your lord Śaṅkara, who gave you his own supreme weapon, and quench this fire with the fire of Śiva's weapon. And Kṛṣṇa himself began to meditate on Śiva to protect Arjuna.

Arjuna thought of Śiva, sipped water, bowed, and released his weapon. The Brahmaśiras is said to be unfailing, and nothing can counter it — yet in that instant it was quenched by the power of Śiva's weapon. Aśvatthāmā, himself Śiva's portion, understood what had happened and was not troubled.

The child in the womb

Then he resolved to empty the world of Pāṇḍavas, and turned his brahma weapon on the child in the womb of Uttarā, Arjuna's daughter-in-law. Burning, she prayed to Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa meditated on Sadāśiva, and at Śiva's command protected the child with his Sudarśana discus — and took his own form inside the womb to shield it. Knowing this, Aśvatthāmā fell silent.

Kṛṣṇa, glad at heart, brought all the Pāṇḍavas to fall at Aśvatthāmā's feet, to win his goodwill. And Droṇa's son, pleased, blessed Kṛṣṇa and the Pāṇḍavas and gave them many boons.

Aśvatthāmā, the Purāṇa ends, is still alive, on the bank of the Gaṅgā.