SB 1.7.45 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

स एष भगवान्द्रोण: प्रजारूपेण वर्तते । तस्यात्मनोऽर्धं पत्‍न्‍यास्ते नान्वगाद्वीरसू: कृपी ॥ ४५ ॥

Verse text

sa eṣa bhagavān droṇaḥ prajā-rūpeṇa vartate tasyātmano ’rdhaṁ patny āste nānvagād vīrasūḥ kṛpī

Synonyms

saḥ — he ; eṣaḥ — certainly ; bhagavān — lord ; droṇaḥ — Droṇācārya ; prajā — rūpeṇa — in the form of his son Aśvatthāmā ; vartate — is existing ; tasya — his ; ātmanaḥ — of the body ; ardham — half ; patnī — wife ; āste — living ; na — not ; anvagāt — undertook ; vīrasūḥ — having the son present ; kṛpī — the sister of Kṛpācārya .

Translation

He [Droṇācārya] is certainly still existing, being represented by his son. His wife Kṛpī did not undergo a satī with him because she had a son.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

By the mercy of Droṇa you learned the military arts with secret mantras, the method of throwing and withdrawing all weapons. Droṇa is standing before you in the form of his son. The other half of Droṇa, his wife Kṛpī, did not follow her husband when he died, but remains alive, because she has a son.

Purport

The wife of Droṇācārya, Kṛpī, is the sister of Kṛpācārya. A devoted wife, who is according to revealed scripture the better half of her husband, is justified in embracing voluntary death along with her husband if she is without issue. But in the case of the wife of Droṇācārya, she did not undergo such a trial because she had her son, the representative of her husband. A widow is a widow only in name if there is a son of her husband existing. So in either case Aśvatthāmā was the representative of Droṇācārya, and therefore killing Aśvatthāmā would be like killing Droṇācārya. That was the argument of Draupadī against the killing of Aśvatthāmā.

Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Sa-rahasyaḥ means “with secret mantras.” In mentioning that the father taught how to throw and withdraw the weapon, she implies “If you had not learned how to throw and withdraw the brahmāstra from his father, how could you now bind him up and bring him here?” The son is considered a representative of the father according to the saying ātmā vai jāyate putraḥ: one is born again as one’s son. [Note: This is quoted in CC. Madhya-līlā, 12.56. There is a similar text in SB 10.78.36.] The wife is considered half of the husband according to the śruti text ardho vā eśa ātmano yat-patnī: the wife is half of oneself. (Black Yajur-veda, Baudhāyana-śrauta-sūtra 29.89.381.2) She did not follow her husband to death because she had a son (vīra-sūḥ).