Shloka 60
Aśvatthāmā’s Stuti of Rudra and Śiva’s Empowerment (सौप्तिकपर्व, अध्याय ७)
इत्युक्त्वा द्रौणिरास्थाय तां वेदीं दीप्तपावकाम् | संत्यज्यात्मानमारुहय कृष्णवर्त्मन्युपाविशत्,ऐसा कहकर द्रोणकुमार अश्व॒त्थामा प्रज्वलित अग्निसे प्रकाशित हुई उस वेदीपर चढ़ गया और प्राणोंका मोह छोड़कर आगके बीचमें बैठ गया
ity uktvā drauṇir āsthāya tāṁ vedīṁ dīptapāvakām | saṁtyajyātmānam āruhya kṛṣṇavartmany upāviśat ||
Sañjaya said: “Having spoken thus, Droṇa’s son Aśvatthāmā mounted that altar, blazing with firelight. Casting off attachment to his own life, he climbed into the dark path of the flames and sat down within the fire.” The verse frames a grim ethical moment: after catastrophic violence, the warrior turns toward self-destruction, suggesting despair and the collapse of discernment rather than a dharmic resolution.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how unchecked rage and the aftermath of adharma-driven violence can culminate in despair and self-destructive impulses. It implicitly warns that abandoning discernment (viveka) and responsibility after wrongdoing does not restore dharma; it deepens the tragedy.
Sañjaya reports that Aśvatthāmā, after speaking, climbs onto a fire-lit altar and, relinquishing attachment to his life, enters the dark, smoky course of the flames and sits within the fire—an act presented as a drastic, fatal turn in the aftermath of the night’s events.