Gandivdhari Arjun-The Warrior Prince

ASHWATHAMA

Lord Krishna placed a curse on Ashwathama(actually it was his Prarabdha karma) that "he will carry the burden of all people's sins on his shoulders and will roam alone like a ghost without getting any love and courtesy till the end of Kaliyuga; He will have neither any hospitality nor any accommodation; He will be in total isolation from mankind and society; His body will suffer from a host of incurable diseases forming sores and ulcers that would never heal".

Ashwathama was the son of Dronacharya. He had a gem which was similar to Shamantakamani on his forehead which used to protect the wearer from fear of any snakes, ghosts, demigods and demons. So, Ashwathama was asked to surrender this gem. Lord Sri Krishna further states that "the wound caused by the removal of this gem on his forehead will never heal and will suffer from leprosy, till the end of Kaliyuga". It is believed that in Kaliyuga, his name will be "Suryakanta". Thus, Ashwathama will be in search of death every moment, and yet he will never die. At the end of Kali Yuga, Ashwathama is to meet Sri Kalki, the tenth avatar of Lord Vishnu.
People ask whether Ashwathama is still alive or not? Other people tell many incidents of his being alive and seen in various forms. The purpose of this is not to prove that he is alive, but just to refer some historic incidents what people say about him.
Interestingly, people who met Ashwathama never cited the incident as ego booster but merely highlighted it in their biographies or as contextual reference in their historical documents; giving very little importance to the occasion - writing up few lines on their meeting with Ashwathama
This could be because they were not astonished to meet him or never thought of giving it due importance in their writings due to his past deeds in Dwapar Yug.

Incident 1:
A more than a decade old newspaper article ran about a railway employee on leave. During his wanderings in the jungles of Navsari (Gujarat) he had reported a very tall man of about 12 feet with a wound on his head. He claimed to have conversation with him and learnt that Bheem was much taller and stronger than him.
[3/9/2005]

Incident 2:
The last record of his existence came to my notice while reading a book called "Himalaya kah raha hai" by Pilot Baba. you can also go to his website to read the excerpts. The temple where he stayed was washed away in the floods a few years back.But before that he had interesting encounters with Ashwathama which he shared and detailed in incident 9.

Incident 3:
When in 1192, Prithveeraaj Chauhaan lost the battle from Mohammad Gauree, he left for jungle. There he met one old person with a scar on his head. Being a very good doctor Prithveeraaj Chauhaan confidently asked him that he can cure his scar. The old man agreed. But even after week's medication it remained as it is. Prithveeraaj was surprised and understood the details. He asked old man if he is Ashwathama. Because only the scars that is created through taking up the "MANI" the gem from forehead cannot be cured. The old man told that he was Ashwathama and then he went away. This description is given in "Prithviraj Raso" the book written in 12th century by him.

Incident 4:
In late 14th, early 15th century there lived in Gadag, Karnaatak, a poor Braahman called Naranappa. Later, because of the Mahabharata epic "Karnata Bharata Kathamanjari" that he wrote in Kannada, he came to be called as Kumara Vyasa. His greatest desire was to write Mahabharat based on original sources, and to this end he prayed day-in and day-out in the Temple of Veera Naaraayan, temple of Trikooteshwar. One day the Almighty decided to answer his prayers and appeared in his dream and said: "Attend the forthcoming Dwaadashee Paaran (Dwaadashee feast) in the Veera Naaraayan Temple. Watch out for one lone Braahman who would leave the feast the earliest. He is none other than Ashwathama of Mahabharat. Fall at his feet and ask him to narrate the Mahabharat as it happened. You can record it in writing and claim your share of fame".
Promptly Naranappa attended the following Dwaadashee Paaran at the Veera Naaraayan Temple, and then followed the Braahman who finished his feast the earliest and started walking out of the Temple. He approached him and fell at his feet saying, "I know who you are, you are the very same Ashwathama of Mahabharat, please help me". At this Ashwathama was taken aback and asked him how do you know this? Naranappa responded saying "The Veera Naaraayan Swamy" appeared in his dream and told me so. Ashwathama was mightily pleased hearing this and asked Naranappa, OK, tell me what can I do for you. Naranappa responded saying he would like to write the Mahabharat in Kannada as it happened.
To this Ashwathama agreed under two conditions. He said that Naranappa should start writing the Mahabharat everyday after he finished his bath, wearing a wet Veshti (Dhotee). Ashwathama said - "You can keep writing till such time your Veshti is wet and the Mahabharat would flow from your pen as it happened. The moment your clothes dry up, the flow would stop. He also put a condition that he should not disclose this secret to anyone failing which the flow would stop forever. Needless to say, our Naranappa, was immensely excited about the project, and he kept his secret till the time he reached the "Gadaa Parv" (the time when Duryodhan and Bheem fought the duel of the mace fight). At this moment it is believed that Ashwathama appeared before Naranappa and he was in tears " remembering his friend Duryodhan and the A-Dhaarmik (unjustified) way in which Bheem defeated Duryodhan. Naranappa overcome with excitement disclosed this secret to his wife, and his writing flow stopped immediately. That is why his Mahabharat ends with Gadaa Parv only. Later someone might have added up from Vyaas' MahaBharat, but our Kumara Vyaas's Mahabharat ended only with Gadaa Parv. End of mahabharat and beginning of Kaliyug further suggest that Dronacharya's son is very much alive and is bound to roam in India to serve the curse bestowed on him.
The curse that "Ashwathama would roam the world carrying his own dead body, with people shunning him, and suffering the pain of the wound on his forehead from where the "Mani" was removed by force", was for 3000 years. 3000 years since Mahabharata is now long passed, and I am sure, Ashwathama is there somewhere in the Himaalaya, performing Tapasyaa.