Text 16
tadā śucas te pramṛjāmi bhadre
yad brahma-bandhoḥ śira ātatāyinaḥ
gāṇḍīva-muktair viśikhair upāhare
tvākramya yat snāsyasi dagdha-putrā
tadā — at that time only; śucaḥ — tears in grief; te — your; pramṛjāmi — shall wipe away; bhadre — O gentle lady; yat — when; brahma-bandhoḥ — of a degraded brāhmaṇa; śiraḥ — head; ātatāyinaḥ — of the aggressor; gāṇḍīva-muktaiḥ — shot by the bow named Gāṇḍīva; viśikhaiḥ — by the arrows; upāhare — shall present to you; tvā — yourself; ākramya — riding on it; yat — which; snāsyasi — take your bath; dagdha-putrā — after burning the sons.
おお、優しい婦人よ。私があなたに我が弓ガンディーヴァからの矢であの者の首を切り取ってから、あのブラフマナの首をプレゼントして、あなたの目の涙を拭い、あなたの悲しみを鎮めよう。それから、あなたの息子たちの体を焼いた後に、あの者の首の上に立って沐浴するといい。
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 brāhmaṇa or a so-called son of a brāhmaṇa, has to be punished in all circumstances. When Arjuna promised to behead the aggressor named Aśvatthāmā, he knew well that Aśvatthāmā was the son of a brāhmaṇa, but because the so-called brāhmaṇa acted like a butcher, he was taken as such, and there was no question of sin in killing such a brāhmaṇa’s son who proved to be a villain.