Aswatama

Aswatama - son of Resi Durna

Title	Aswatama - (Raden) - Mahabharata
Other names	Durnaputra, Dwijasuta, Guruputra, Wipratanaya
Size	65 cm
Personal data	In Javanese wayang, Aswatama (Ashwatthaman) is known as the son of Begawan Drona, teacher of the Pandavas and Korawas, and Dewi Krepi, the daughter of King Purungaji from the Tempuru country. Aswatama had horse hair and hooves, this is because, when she was first pregnant, Dewi Krepi was transforming into a Sembrani horse in an effort to help Bambang Kumbayana (Rishi Drona) , cross the sea. The name Aswatama therefore also means the horse that is special (aswa = horse). Aswatama is a holy person. God gave him a weapon in the shape of an arrow, called Cundamani, which can radiate as hot as hot fire. In the same way, Aswatama was always protected by Wilotama, his mother.
Appearance	Aswatama is brave, clever and clever at using all kinds of weapons. He studied warfare with the Kuru princes under the guidance of his own father, Resi Drona. He has skills in archery, and his abilities are almost the same as Arjuna, his father's favorite student. Aswatama has white kedondong eyes, a long sharp nose, a full head, an udeng hat with the garuda backwards and long breadfruit flower arrangements. A necklace in the shape of a crescent moon. Bracelets, pontoons and kroncong. Dressed, but no pants. In the story, Aswatama has horse legs and mane, because he has thousands of horses.
Collection	Private collection

Aswatama - (Raden) - Mahabharata

According to the old description, the doll represents Suatama, but that is an unknown name in the wajang. The doll bears a great resemblance to Aswatama.

Aswatama came from the Sokalima hermitage. He is a great warrior, sides with the Kauravas and is an advisor on war strategies. During the great final battle between the Pandawa and Korawa, the Bharata Yuddha, he stealthily invades the Pandawa camp one night. After this act, the Pandawa go in search of Aswatama. Once they find him, Aswatama tries to summon his deadly weapon with a magic spell. Arjuna, the third Pandawa, uses counter-magic. Ultimately, Aswatama manages to put the Pandawa to sleep and he disappears.

Actually, Aswatama was a priest of the same race, because he was the son of Dahyang Durna, the teacher of Pendawa and Korawa. Aswatama did indeed defend the Astina kingdom, but the help he offered did not seem real. Because he sided with Astina, he also hated Pendawa, Astina's enemy, and also resented Banowati, whom he saw as an enemy in disguise, for although Dewi Banowati was King Suyudana's consort at birth, she chose inwardly the Pendawa side. So Aswatama always had a grudge against Banowati.

Aswatama's life was always watched over by his mother, Dewi Wilotama, who was an angel. Whenever Aswatama was in danger, his mother came to help. So Aswatama always won in war, also in the Baratayuda War. He always knows the enemy's tricks what makes him victorious in the war.
Aswatama saw Dewi Banowati and killed her. At that place Aswatama also saw Angkawijaya's son, Parikesit, who was then a baby. Aswatama was about to kill the baby, but the baby cried loudly and kicked Pasopati's arrow that was placed there to guard the baby. The arrow bounced back, hitting Aswatama's neck until it broke off and Aswatama died.

When the great war between the Pandavas and Korawa broke out, Aswatama was on the Korawa side. To raise the morale of the Korawa troops after being beaten back by the Pandava troops, Ashwatama summoned the powerful Narayanastra weapon. Knowing this, Krishna created a tactic and the weapon was successfully overcome. He also summoned the Agneyastra weapon to attack Arjuna, but the weapon was repelled by the Brahmastha weapon.
With Krishna's tactics too, Begawan Drona died at the hands of Drestadyumna, son of King Drupada from the Panchala kingdom. Krishna asked Bima to kill an elephant named Aswatama. Before the war started Begawan Drona once said that he would not take up arms if he received bad news from someone whose honesty he recognized. Bima carried out Krishna's orders, he killed the elephant named Aswatama, after that he shouted at the top of his voice, that Aswatama was dead. Begawan Drona heard the news, so he asked Yudhistira who was famous for his honesty, Yudhistira then answered that it was true that Aswatama had died, but he could not confirm whether he was human or not. Because of this news, Begawan Drona lost his enthusiasm for life and he died at the hands of Drestadyumna.

Learning that his father had died at the hands of Dhristadyumna, Ashwatthama was angry and wanted revenge. With Doryudana's permission, Ashwatthama succeeded in getting his revenge. To take revenge for his father's death, after the Bharatayuddha war ended, Ashwatama smuggled into the Hastinapura palace by digging a hole leading to the Pendawa's house. He succeeded in killing Drestadyumna (his father's killer), Pancalawa (here, Pancawala was the son of Yudhistira and Draupadi), Banowati, and Srikandi.

The Pandavas were angry with what Aswatama had done, Arjuna chased him and a fight broke out between the two. In that fight, Ashwatthama summoned the weapon "Brahmasta" as did Arjuna, afraid of the destruction of the world, Begawan Byasa (Abiyasa) asked both of them to immediately withdraw their weapons again. Arjuna succeeded in doing so, but Aswatama was not good at mastering the weapon so he could not pull it. He is then given the option to have the weapon attack another target to destroy. Still full of revenge, Ashwatthama directed the weapon towards the womb of Utara, Arjuna's daughter-in-law, Abimanyu's wife. The weapon burned North's fetus, but Krishna managed to bring it back to life. Ashwatthama was then cursed by Krishna to suffer from leprosy and wander the earth for 6,000 years as an outcast without any affection.

In another version, it is said that Ashwatama was cursed by Krishna to live until the end of the Kali Yuga era. Legend also says that Aswatama wandered into the area now known as the Arabian peninsula. In another legend it is said that Aswatama still wanders the world in the form of storms and typhoons.

An ancient fort near Burhanpur India known as Asirgarh has a holy Shiva temple at its peak. It is said that every morning Aswatama visits the temple to offer red roses. People who were able to witness the incident were said to be blind or lose their voices. In Gujarat, India, there is the Gir Forest National Park which is believed to be the place where Aswatama wandered and is said to still live there as a Chiranjiwin.

---

Hadisukirno – Yogyakarta - 2011