SB 1.7.43 (1964)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT No. 43
Uvacha cha asahanti asya bandhana anayanam satee Muchyatam muchyatam esha brahmanah nitaaam guruh.
ENGLISH SYNONYMS
Uvacha—said, Cha—and, Asahanti—being unbearable for her, Asya—his, Bandhana—being bound up, Anayanam—bringing him, Satee—the devoted, Muchyatam—just get him released, Brahmanah—a brahmin, Nitaram—our, Guruh—teacher.
TRANSLATION
She said because of being a devoted lady, "Get him released get him released because he is a Brahmin of our spiritual master." She could not tolerate of Aswatthama's being bound up by ropes.
PURPORT
As soon as Aswatthama was brought before Droupadi the devoted lady, she thought it intolerable that a Brahmin should be arrested like a culprit and brought before her in that condition. Specially when the Brahmin happened to become a teacher's son.
Arjuna arrested Aswatthama knowing it perfectly well that he was the son of a Brahmin like Dronacharya. So also Krishna knew him to be so but both of them condemned the murderer without any consideration of his becoming the son of a Brahmin. Because according to revealed scriptures a teacher or spiritual master is liable to be rejected if such a teacher or spiritual master proves himself unworthy of the position of a Guru or spiritual master. A Guru is called also an Acharya or the person who has personally assimilated all the essence of Shastras and has helped his disciples to adopt the ways. As such Aswatthama failed to discharge the duties of a Brahmin or teacher and therefore he is liable to be rejected from the exhalted position of a Brahmin. On this consideration both Lord Sri Krishna and Arjuna were right in the matter of condemning Aswatthama. But to a good lady like Droupadi the matter was considered not from the angle of Shastric vision but she took it as matter of custom. By custom Aswatthama was offered the same respect as it was offered to his father. It was so because generally the people accept, the son of a Brahmin as real a Brahmin by sentiment only. Factually the matter is different. A brahmin is accepted on the merit of qualification and not on the merit of one's becoming the son of a Brahmin.
But in spite of all this Droupadi desired that Aswatthama should be at once released and it was all the same a good sentiment for her better than anybody else. This means that a devotee of the Lord can tolerate all sorts of tribulation personally but still such devotees are never unkind to others even to the enemy. These are the characteristics of one who is a pure devotee of the Lord.