Shloka 17
लक प्र | अश्वत्थामेति हि गज: ख्यातो नाम्ना हतो5भवत् | कृत्वा मनसि तं॑ भीमो मिथ्या व्याहृृतवांस्तदा,“अश्वत्थामा” नामसे विख्यात हाथी मारा गया था, उसीको मनमें रखकर भीमसेनने उस समय वह झूठी बात कही थी
aśvatthāmeti hi gajaḥ khyāto nāmnā hato 'bhavat | kṛtvā manasi taṃ bhīmo mithyā vyāhṛtavāṃs tadā “aśvatthāmā” ||
సంజయుడు పలికెను—‘అశ్వత్థామ’ అనే పేరుతో ప్రసిద్ధి చెందిన ఒక గజం హతమయ్యెను. అదే మనస్సులో ఉంచుకొని భీముడు ఆ సమయంలో అసత్య వాక్యాన్ని పలికెను.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ethical tension between strategic necessity and truthfulness: even when a statement is technically anchored in a fact (the elephant named Aśvatthāman was killed), speaking it to mislead others becomes morally compromised, illustrating how war pressures dharma and corrodes straightforward speech.
After an elephant named Aśvatthāman is slain, Bhīma deliberately utters “Aśvatthāmā,” intending the audience—especially Droṇa—to interpret it as the death of Droṇa’s son Aśvatthāmā, thereby advancing a deceptive tactic within the battlefield narrative.