Ashwatthama is not exactly a ghost, for he never died; but he still manages to haunt the present, thousands of years after his birth.

The Mahabharata tells us that Ashwatthama’s father was the sage Dronacharya. For many long years before his son was born, Dronacharya had practiced intense asceticism, praying to Lord Shiva for a boon.

As a result of his father’s devotions, Ashwatthama was born with a magic jewel in the middle of his forehead. This gem gave him special powers. No illness could affect him; he could feel neither hunger, nor thirst, nor tiredness. He could stay alive even without needing to breathe. He was a chiranjeevi — one of the very few “immortals” who will survive until the end of Kali Yuga, the current aeon, more than 400,000 years in the future.

In the Kurukshetra War, Ashwatthama fought on the side of the Kauravas against the Pandavas, led by Arjuna. He was a ferocious warrior with deadly skill on the battlefield, and he dispatched many opponents.

Then the Pandavas killed Drona, his father, and Ashwatthama became even more dangerous. Consumed by murderous rage, he aimed a powerful supernatural weapon called the brahmashirastra at the womb of Uttara, Arjuna’s daughter-in-law, in an attempt to put an end to the Pandava lineage.

In this he was thwarted by Lord Krishna, who restored Uttara’s child to life. Krishna then removed the gem from Ashwatthama’s forehead, and as punishment for having targeted an innocent unborn child, he cursed him to suffer for the whole of Kali Yuga. He left Ashwatthama roaming the forests, howling in pain and wishing for death, with his skin slowly melting away.