The Protection of Parikshit in the Womb

Ashwatthama attacked the sleeping camp by night and aimed the Brahmastra at Uttara's womb. Krishna entered the womb and protected Parikshit, the last heir of the Pandavas.

When the great war was almost over and Duryodhana lay mortally wounded, Ashwatthama, the son of Drona, burning with anger over his father's death, made a terrible decision. In the dead of night he entered the sleeping Pandava camp and slew Dhrishtadyumna, the five young sons of Draupadi, and many other warriors. The five Pandavas were not in the camp that night, for they were staying elsewhere with Krishna.

Hearing the news, Draupadi was overwhelmed with grief. The Pandavas, with Krishna, pursued Ashwatthama. Cornered, he released the Brahmastra, called Brahmashira in the Mahabharata, a weapon that could burn the worlds. On Krishna's advice Arjuna released his own to counter it. The sages Vyasa and Narada appeared between the two weapons and asked both warriors to withdraw them. Arjuna withdrew his, but Ashwatthama could not, and in his hatred he turned it towards the wombs of the Pandava women, so that the family line would end. In the womb of Uttara, Abhimanyu's widow, was the last heir of the Pandavas.

Uttara ran to Krishna, crying out for protection. The Shrimad Bhagavatam tells that the Lord, by his yogic power, entered her womb and shielded the child. The child saw a small, radiant form guarding him, whirling a mace around him, and after his birth he seemed to search for that form in every face; hence he was named Parikshit, the one who examines. The Mahabharata tells that the child was born lifeless and Krishna brought him back to life by the power of his truth.

Ashwatthama was humbled. In the Bhagavatam, Draupadi, with great compassion, asked that her teacher's son not be killed, so that his mother would not weep as she herself had wept. Arjuna removed the jewel from his forehead and sent him away in disgrace. In the Mahabharata, Krishna pronounced that he would wander the earth for three thousand years.

It was then that Kunti offered her famous prayer to Krishna, asking for an extraordinary boon: "vipadah santu tah shashvat" — may troubles come to us again and again, for in them we receive your darshan, which frees us from rebirth. This leela teaches that the Lord protects the helpless even in the womb, and that compassion is greater than revenge.

Source

Mahabharata, Sauptika Parva and Ashvamedhika Parva; Shrimad Bhagavatam, Canto 1, ch. 7, 8 and 12

Place

Kurukshetra – banks of the Ganga – Hastinapura

Lesson

The Lord protects the helpless even in the womb; compassion is greater than revenge.