SB 1.7.16

TEXT 16

TEXT

तदा शुचस्ते प्रमृजामि भद्रे यद्ब्रह्मबन्धोः शिर आततायिनः ।
गाण्डीवमुक्तैर्विशिखैरुपाहरे त्वाऽऽक्रम्य यत्स्नास्यसि दग्धपुत्रा ॥ १६ ॥

tada sucas te pramrjami bhadre

yad brahma-bandhoh sira atatayinah

gandiva-muktair visikhair upahare

tva''kramya yat snasyasi dagdha-putra

tada-at that time only; sucah-tears in grief; te-your; pramrjami-shall wipe out; bhadre-O gentle lady; yat-when; brahma-bandhoh-of a degraded brahmana; sirah-head; atatayinah-of the aggressor; gandiva-muktaih-shot by the bow named Gandiva; visikhaih-by the arrows; upahare-shall present to you; tva-yourself; akramya-riding on it; yat-which; snasyasi-take your bath; dagdha-putra-after burning the sons.

TRANSLATION

O gentle lady, when I present you with the head of that brahmana, after beheading him with arrows from my Gandiva bow, I shall then wipe the tears from your eyes and pacify you. Then, after burning your sons' bodies, you can take your bath standing on his head.

An enemy who sets fire to the house, administers poison, attacks all of a sudden with deadly weapons, plunders wealth or usurps agricultural fields, or entices one's wife is called an aggressor. Such an aggressor, though he be a brahmana or a so-called son of a brahmana, has to be punished in all circumstances. When Arjuna promised to behead the aggressor named Asvatthama, he knew well that Asvatthama was the son of a brahmana, but because the so-called brahmana acted like a butcher, he was taken as such, and there was no question of sin in killing such a brahmana's son who proved to be a villain.