In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Ashwatthama was the son of Dronacharya, the guru of the Pandavas and Kauravas. He was a skilled warrior and possessed a number of powerful weapons, including the Brahmastra. An important event in Mahabharata is that of blinded by revenge Ashwatthama attempting to kill unknown child of Uttara and Abhimanyu.
The Brahmastra is a divine weapon that can destroy anything
in its path. It is said to be so powerful that it can even destroy the
universe. Only a few people have ever been able to master the Brahmastra, and
Ashwatthama was one of them.
At the end of the Mahabharata war, Ashwatthama was enraged
by the death of his father, Dronacharya. He decided to use the Brahmastra to
kill all of the Pandavas and their descendants.
Arjuna, the Pandava warrior, also knew how to use the Brahmastra. He invoked the Brahmastra to counter Ashwatthama's attack. The two astras clashed in the sky, and the resulting explosion caused widespread destruction.
Narada and Vyasa, two of the sages who were present at the
war, intervened to stop the destruction. They convinced Arjuna to withdraw his
Brahmastra, but Ashwatthama refused. He instead directed the Brahmastra at
Uttara, the wife of Abhimanyu, the Pandava warrior who had killed Ashwatthama's
son. As per some accounts Ashwatthama did not know how to withdraw the
Brahmastra.
Krishna, the Pandava advisor, intervened and used his
Sudarshan chakra to deflect the Brahmastra. The weapon missed Uttara, but it
did strike her womb. Uttara was pregnant with Abhimanyu's son, Parikshit. The
Brahmastra caused injuries to the unborn child, and he was born with a
malformed foot.
Krishna was enraged by Ashwatthama's actions. He cursed
Ashwatthama to roam the earth for eternity, with an oozing wart on his
forehead. The wart would never heal, and it would constantly ooze blood and
pus.
Ashwatthama was thus punished for his arrogance and his
attempt to kill Parikshit, who was destined to become the king of Hastinapura.
The event of Ashwatthama's Brahmastra is a significant one
in the Mahabharata. It shows the destructive power of the Brahmastra, and it
also shows the importance of restraint and compassion.