Shloka 16
गर्भस्थस्यास्य बालस्य ब्रह्मास्त्रेण निपातनम् | कृत्वा नृशंसं दुर्बुद्धिद्रीणि: कि फलमश्लुते,“हाय! इस गर्भके बालकको ब्रह्मास्त्रसे मार डालनेका क्रूरतापूर्ण कर्म करके दुर्बुद्धि द्रोणपुत्र अश्वत्थामा कौन-सा फल पा रहा है
garbhasthasyāsya bālasya brahmāstreṇa nipātanam | kṛtvā nṛśaṁsaṁ durbuddhir droṇiḥ kiṁ phalam aśnute ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Having committed the cruel deed of striking down this child still in the womb with the Brahmāstra, what ‘fruit’ is the evil-minded son of Droṇa (Aśvatthāmā) now reaping?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in war, certain acts—especially violence against the utterly innocent, such as an unborn child—are condemned as nṛśaṁsa (cruel) and adharma. The verse frames the deed in terms of phala (moral consequence), underscoring that grievous wrongdoing inevitably yields a corresponding result.
The narrator Vaiśampāyana recalls Aśvatthāmā’s use of the Brahmāstra against the child still in the womb (the heir of the Pāṇḍavas, implied). He rhetorically asks what ‘fruit’ Aśvatthāmā is obtaining from such a merciless act, highlighting the ethical outrage and the expectation of retribution.