स एष भगवान्द्रोणः प्रजारूपेण वर्तते तस्यात्मनो ऽर्धं पत्न्यास्ते नान्वगाद्वीरसूः कृपी
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—no; 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.
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 to embrace 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 so called 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.