Ashwatthama saw the dying Duryodhana and swore he would wipe out the remaining forces of the enemy. He, Kripacharya and Kritavarma were the only ones left. They rested under a tree that night. While the others slept, Ashwatthama saw an owl kill several crows on a tree. Seeing that, he decided to kill the enemy while they were asleep. Kripacharya and Kritavarma were against this, but couldn’t stop Ashwatthama. That night, when Dhrishtadyumna and the Panchala forces were sleeping in their camp, along with the five sons of Draupadi, Ashwatthama attacked and killed all of them. Grief-stricken and furious, the Pandavas found him hiding behind Vyasa on the banks of the Ganga. Ashwatthama read a mantra on a blade of grass aiming it to kill Abhimanyu’s unborn child. But Krishna saved Uttara and the child. Ashwatthama accepted defeat, and gave the jewel he was born with to Bhima and went away into the forest.
Ashwatthama’s Revenge
