Drona and Ashwatthama: Teacher and Son in the Mahabharata

Quick answer: Drona (Dronacharya) was the brahmin teacher of arms to the Kaurava and Pandava princes, and the second commander of the Kaurava army. He was killed on the fifteenth day of the war after Yudhishthira told him, half-truthfully, that "Ashwatthama is dead", and Dhrishtadyumna cut off his head. His son Ashwatthama survived the war, killed the sleeping Pandava camp in a night raid, and was cursed by Krishna to wander the earth for three thousand years.

Father and son are bound together in the epic: Drona dies because of a lie about Ashwatthama, and Ashwatthama's revenge for his father is the war's last horror. References are to the critical edition of the Mahabharata (Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune), as book.chapter.verse.

Drona's birth and his feud with Drupada

The sage Bharadvaja saw the apsaras Ghritachi bathing (1.121.3) and his seed fell into a vessel, a drona, from which the child was born and named. Drona studied the Vedas and weapons, and received divine weapons from Parashurama (1.121). He married Kripi, and their son was named Ashwatthama because at birth he cried out like the horse Ucchaihshravas, and the sound reached every direction (1.121.14).

As boys, Drona and Prince Drupada of Panchala had been friends. When Drona, now poor, came to Drupada as an old friend, the king told him that a poor man is no friend of a rich one (1.122.7) and sent him away. Drona came to Hastinapura, where Bhishma made him teacher of the Kuru princes.

The teacher

Drona taught all the princes, with Arjuna as his favourite pupil. In his best-known test, he set a bird on a tree as a target; asked what he saw, Arjuna said he saw only the bird's head, and cut it off with one arrow (1.123.59 to 66). Popular retellings make it the bird's eye. The story of Ekalavya, from whom Drona asked his right thumb as a teacher's fee, is also told here (1.123). For his fee from the princes Drona asked that Drupada be brought to him captive. Arjuna defeated Drupada, and Drona took half his kingdom, leaving him the other half (1.128).

Drupada never forgave this. He performed a sacrifice for a son who would kill Drona, and from the fire came Dhrishtadyumna, "born for Drona's destruction" (1.57.91), and Draupadi. Drona later taught Dhrishtadyumna weapons as well.

Commander of the Kauravas

After Bhishma fell on the tenth day, Drona took command. He promised Duryodhana to capture Yudhishthira alive (7.11 to 7.12) but never managed it. On the thirteenth day he formed the chakravyuha, the wheel formation, in which Abhimanyu was trapped and killed. See Abhimanyu and the Chakravyuha. On the fifteenth day he killed Drupada and Virata (7.161.34).

How Drona died

The Pandavas could not defeat Drona in battle. Krishna proposed that he be told his son was dead. Bhima killed an elephant named Ashwatthama and shouted to Drona that Ashwatthama had been killed (7.164.71 to 73). Drona did not believe it until he asked Yudhishthira, known never to lie. Urged by Krishna, Yudhishthira said that Ashwatthama was dead, and added indistinctly "the elephant" (7.164.106). At that moment his chariot, which had always moved four fingers above the ground, touched the earth (7.164.107).

Drona lost the will to live, laid down his weapons and sat in yoga on his chariot. Dhrishtadyumna rushed at him and cut off his head (7.165.54), while Arjuna cried out against it. The killing of a teacher who had laid down his arms troubled the Pandavas for the rest of the epic.

Ashwatthama's revenge

When Ashwatthama learned how his father had died, he released the Narayana weapon against the Pandava army; Krishna told the soldiers to put down their arms and get off their chariots (7.170.38), and the weapon was calmed (7.171.19).

After the war, as Duryodhana lay dying, he made Ashwatthama commander (9.64.40). That night, sitting under a tree, Ashwatthama watched an owl kill sleeping crows (10.1.35 to 42) and took it as a lesson. With Kripa and Kritavarma guarding the gates, he entered the sleeping Pandava camp and killed Dhrishtadyumna, Shikhandi, the five sons of Draupadi and many others (Sauptika Parva 10.8). The five Pandavas and Krishna were not in the camp and survived.

The Brahmashira and the curse

Pursued by the Pandavas, Ashwatthama released the Brahmashira weapon, and Arjuna answered with his own. Vyasa and Narada stood between the weapons. Arjuna withdrew his; Ashwatthama could not, and turned it on the wombs of the Pandava women (10.15.31 to 33). Krishna declared that the unborn child of Abhimanyu's widow Uttara would live, and cursed Ashwatthama to wander the earth for three thousand years, alone and diseased (10.16.10). Ashwatthama gave up the jewel he wore on his head (10.16.19), which Yudhishthira later wore. The child, stillborn, was revived by Krishna and named Parikshit (Ashvamedhika Parva 14.65 to 69).

Later tradition counts Ashwatthama among the seven chiranjivis, beings who live until the end of the age. That list comes from a later verse, not from the critical edition, which speaks of three thousand years.

Frequently asked questions

Why was Drona called Drona?

Because he was born from a vessel, a drona (1.121).

Who killed Drona?

Dhrishtadyumna, son of Drupada, who cut off his head while he sat in yoga (7.165.54).

What did Yudhishthira say to Drona?

That Ashwatthama was dead, adding "the elephant" indistinctly (7.164.106).

Is Ashwatthama immortal?

Krishna's curse in the critical edition is to wander for three thousand years (10.16.10). The idea that he lives until the end of the age comes from the later chiranjivi list.

Whom did Ashwatthama kill in the night raid?

Dhrishtadyumna, Shikhandi, the five sons of Draupadi and many sleeping warriors (10.8).

Related reading

• Mahabharata: The Complete Guide
• Arjuna in the Mahabharata
• Yudhishthira in the Mahabharata
• Abhimanyu and the Chakravyuha

Sources

1. The Mahabharata, critical edition (Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune, 1933 to 1966); electronic text BORI 1999, via Indology: indology.info/bombay/mahabharata. References are book.chapter.verse in this edition.

Last reviewed: 12 November 2026.