sa eṣa bhagavān droṇaḥ prajā-rūpeṇa vartate tasyātmano 'rdhaṁ patny āste nānvagād vīrasūḥ kṛpī
Synonyms
saḥ—he; eṣaḥ—certainly; bhagavān—Dronacharya; droṇaḥ—in form of his son Aswathama; prajā-rūpeṇa—is existing; vartate—his; tasya—of the body; ātmanaḥ—half; ardham—wife; patnī—living; āste—no; na—undertook; anvagāt—having the son present; vīrasūḥ—sister of Kripacharya.
Translation
He (Lord Dronacharya) is certainly still existing represented by his son and his better half wife Kripi did not undergo a Sati with him for the reason that she had his son.
Purport
Wife of Dronacharya Kripi is the sister of Kripacharya. 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 any issue ; but in the case of the wife of Dronachrya she did not undergo such trial because she had her son the representative of her husband. A widow is so-called if there is a son representative of her husband existing. So in either case Aswatthama is the representative of Dronacharya and therefore, killing of Aswatthama is killing of Dronacharya That was the argument of Droupadi against the killing of Aswatthama.