tad asau vadhyatÄá¹ pÄpa
ÄtatÄyy Ätma-bandhu-hÄ
bhartuś ca vipriyaṠvīra
ká¹›tavÄn kula-pÄá¹sanaḥ
tat - therefore; asau - this man; vadhyatÄm - will be killed; pÄpaḥ - the sinner; ÄtatÄyÄ« - assaulter; Ätma - own; bandhu-hÄ - killer of sons; bhartuḥ - of the master; ca - also; vipriyam - having not satisfied; vÄ«ra - O warrior; ká¹›tavÄn - one who has done it; kula-pÄá¹sanaḥ - the burnt remnants of the family.
The son of DroṇÄcÄrya is condemned here as the burnt remnants of his family. The good name of DroṇÄcÄrya was very much respected. Although he joined the enemy camp, the PÄṇá¸avas held him always in respect, and Arjuna saluted him before beginning the fight. There was nothing wrong in that way. But the son of DroṇÄcÄrya degraded himself by committing acts which are never done by the dvijas, or the twice-born higher castes. AÅ›vatthÄmÄ, the son of DroṇÄcÄrya, committed murder by killing the five sleeping sons of DraupadÄ«, by which he dissatisfied his master Duryodhana, who never approved of the heinous act of killing the five sleeping sons of the PÄṇá¸avas. This means that AÅ›vatthÄmÄ became an assaulter of Arjuna’s own family members, and thus he was liable to be punished by him. In the Å›Ästras, he who attacks without notice or kills from behind or sets fire to another’s house or kidnaps one’s wife is condemned to death. Kṛṣṇa reminded Arjuna of these facts so that he might take notice of them and do the needful.