Text 34] The Son of Drona Punished 353

once. Similarly, there are many agents of the all-powerful Lord, and by
His will only can one execute what He desires.

TEXT 33

TA MATT TE sreot aa gaT |
TIAA: Va AAT AAT UI

tata asadya tarasa
darunam gautami-sutam

babandhamarsa-tamrak sah
pasum rasanaya yatha

tatah—thereupon; dsa@dya—arrested; tarasd—dexterously; darunam—
dangerous; gautami-sutam—the son of Gautami; babandha—bound up;
amarsa—angry; tamra-aksah—with copper-red eyes: pasum—animal;
rasanaya—by ropes; yatha—as it were.

TRANSLATION

Arjuna, his eyes blazing in anger like two red balls of copper, dexterous-
ly arrested the son of Gautami and bound him with ropes like an animal.

PURPORT

Asvatthama’s mother, Krpi, was bom in the family of Gautama. The
significant point in this sloka is that Asvatthama was caught and bound up
with ropes like an animal. According to Sridhara Svami, Arjuna was bound
to catch this son of a brahmana like an animal as a part of his duty
(dharma). This suggestion by Sridhara Svami is also confirmed in the later
statement of Sri Krsna. Aévatthama was a bona fide son of Dronacarya
and Krpi, but because he had degraded himself to a lower status of life, it
was proper to treat him as an animal and not as a brahmana.

TEXT 34

West wattat wTaArTaaM: 113vll
sibiraya ninisantam
rajjava baddhva ripum balat
praharjunam prakupito
bhagavan ambujeksanah
