The holy name is not ordinary sound but Kṛṣṇa Himself—true devotion means active service, not idle seclusion.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
YadaXar<aMaaTMaaNaMaE+aTa ī[aNTavaiJaNaMa( ) Aṣ& b]øiXarae MaeNae AaTMa}aa<a& iŪJaaTMaJa" )) 19 )) Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [devotees repeat] [chants verse]
Prabhupāda: [to person fanning] Slow, just to drive the flies. yadāśaraṇam ātmānam aikṣata śrānta-vājinam astraṁ brahma-śiro mene ātma-trāṇaṁ dvijātmajaḥ [SB 1.7.19] [02:30] Pradyumna: Translation: "When the son of the brāhmaṇa [Aśvatthāmā] saw that his horses were tired, he considered that there was no alternative for protection outside of his using the ultimate weapon, the brahmāstra, or nuclear weapon." Prabhupāda: yadāśaraṇam ātmānam aikṣata śrānta-vājinam astraṁ brahma-śiro mene ātma-trāṇaṁ dvijātmajaḥ [SB 1.7.19] So this dvijātmaja, "son of a brāhmaṇa." He's not addressed as a brāhmaṇa because his actions are different. Unless one acts as a brāhmaṇa, he's not accepted as a brāhmaṇa. This is the Vedic system. Lakṣaṇam. yal lakṣaṇaṁ proktaṁ puṁso varṇābhivyañjakam yad anyatrāpi dṛśyeta tat tenaiva vinirdiśet [SB 7.11.35] Lakṣaṇam.
Brāhmaṇa's lakṣaṇam, kṣatriya's lakṣaṇam... Lakṣaṇam means symptoms. One must act as a brāhmaṇa. So he is accepted as brahmātmaja.
Of course, everyone can claim that his father is like that. But that does not mean he has acquired the father's qualifications. That is not meaning. And onward the son may claim that "Such and such big man is my father." Of course, from social point of view, we sometimes give respect, as it will be seen.
Aśvatthāmā, because he happened to be a great personality, Droṇācārya, so he was excused from capital punishment. Otherwise, Arjuna decided to kill him. But because he was a very great man's son, guru-putra, considering that "If he dies, then guru's wife will be very much unhappy," Draupadī advised... She was unhappy on account of death of her sons.
So they considered that Aśvatthāmā's mother, she's innocent, but on account of the son's death, she would be unhappy. So considering all these points, he was excused from the capital punishment. So yadā aśaraṇam ātmānam aikṣata. He was running on, on the back of a horse, but when he saw that Arjuna is coming nearer, so he has no other alternative, protection. Then he thought of the brahmāstra.
Brahmāstra is the last weapon. Just like it is similar to modern nuclear weapon, brahmāstra. As by releasing nuclear weapon there is radiation, similarly, we have got description that when Aśvatthāmā released his brahmāstra, there was a big radiation, people were feeling very terrible heat. And then Kṛṣṇa informed that "This heat is due to the Aśvatthāmā's release of brahmāstra," and Arjuna was advised, "Counteract it." Now they do not know how to counteract this nuclear weapon.