On Keeping Secrets

A little-known tale from Mahabharata that is so often used by men to prove male chauvinism.

- Brajendra Singh

The 18-day genocidal Mahabharata war finally ended with the total defeat of the Kaurava armies. Of the thousands of warriors, including the hundred Kaurava brothers, only three remained alive. These were Krip, Kritverma and Ashwathama. The last-named, Ashwathama was the son of Dronacharya, the Guru who had taught both the Kauravas and the Pandavas the art of warfare.

Like the clan patriarch Bhishma Pitamah, Drona obviously believed in the principle of “My country, my king, right or wrong.” He therefore sided with the Kauravas, the sons of the blind King Dhritarashtra. Along with his son Ashwathama, he took up arms against the Pandavas.

Guru Drona was a mighty warrior. After the fighting started, he soon began massacring large numbers of Pandavas’ soldiers every day, and they could find no way of stopping him. Finally the Pandavas devised a crafty plan to finish Guru Drona off.

Taking part in the fighting, were two Ashwathamas, one was the Guru’s son, the other a similarly named elephant. The Pandavas waited till Ashwathama was fighting in a remote corner of the vast battlefield and then they deliberately killed the elephant bearing his name.

Their soldiers, who were fighting in and around the area where Guru Drona was located, were thereafter instructed to start cheering and shouting loudly “Ashwathama is dead! Ashwathama is dead!”

Guru Drona heard the shouts, but did not believe what he was hearing. So, to set his doubts at rest, Drona drove over to where Yudhishtira was fighting and, knowing that the latter with his reputation for truthfulness, asked him point blank “Tell me the truth, is Ashwathama really dead?”

Yudhishtira, to his ever-lasting shame, replied loudly “Yes, it is true, Ashwathama is really dead” adding, under his breath, “But whether man or beast, I do not know.”