tata āsādya tarasā dāruṇaṁ gautamī-sutam babandhāmarṣa-tāmrākṣaḥ paśuṁ raśanayā yathā
Synonyms
tataḥ—thereupon; āsādya—arrested; tarasā—dexterously; dāruṇam—dangerous; gautamī-sutam—the son of Goutami; babandha—bound up; amarṣa—angry; tāmra-akṣaḥ—with copper red eyes; paśum—animal; raśanayā—by ropes; yathā—as it were.
Translation
By anger Arjun's eyes seemed to be red balls of copper and he dexterously arrested the son of Goutami in the manner as it were an animal is bound up by ropes;
Purport
Aswathama's mother Kripi was born in the family of Goutama. The signficant word in this sloka is that Aswathama was cought and bound up by ropes like an animal. According to Sridhar Swami Arjuna was duty bound to catch this son of Brahmin like an animal as a part of his duty (Dharma). This suggestion of Sridhar Swami is also confirmed in the later statement of Sri Krishna. Aswathama was a bonafide son of Dronacharya and Kripi but because he had degraded himself to a lower status of life it was apt to treat him as an animal and not as a Brahmin simply on account of his high parentage of being the son of a great Brahmin Dronacharya.