Shloka 31
अश्वत्थाम-शापः, परिक्षिद्भविष्यत्, मणि-न्यासः
Aśvatthāman’s Curse, Parikṣit’s Future, and the Mani’s Restitution
हतो दुर्योधन: पापो राज्यस्य परिपन्थिक: । दुःशासनस्य रुधिरं पीत॑ विस्फुरतो मया
hato duryodhanaḥ pāpo rājyasya paripanthi-kaḥ | duḥśāsanasya rudhiraṃ pītaṃ visphurato mayā ||
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは言った。「罪深きドゥルヨーダナ――我らの国の敵にして妨げとなる者――は討たれた。さらにドゥフシャーサナが身をよじりもがくさなか、私はその血を飲んだ。かくして怨讐はことごとく報いられた。いまや語ろうとする者も、もはや我らを非難できぬ。ドローナの子アシュヴァッターマンを屈服させながら、彼がブラーフマナであり、また我らの師の子であるがゆえにのみ、その命を赦したのだ。」
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral tension between righteous retribution and excess: vengeance is claimed as ‘fulfilled,’ yet the imagery of drinking blood underscores how war can push even justified anger toward transgressive violence; simultaneously, sparing Aśvatthāman due to brāhmaṇa-status and guru-lineage shows dharma operating as a restraint even amid hatred.
A speaker (reported by Vaiśampāyana) declares that Duryodhana has been killed and that Duḥśāsana’s blood was drunk while he writhed—presented as repayment for past wrongs; the statement adds that Aśvatthāman, though defeated, was left alive out of respect for his being a brāhmaṇa and the son of Droṇa.