Pradyumna:
- tam āpatantaṁ sa vilakṣya dūrāt
- kumāra-hodvigna-manā rathena
- parādravat prāṇa-parīpsur urvyāṁ
- yāvad-gamaṁ rudra-bhayād yathā kaḥ
- (SB 1.7.18)
"Aśvatthāmā, the murderer of the princes, seeing from a great distance Arjuna coming at him with great speed, fled in his chariot, panic stricken, just to save his life, as Brahmā fled in fear from Śiva."
Prabhupāda:
- tam āpatantaṁ sa vilakṣya dūrāt
- kumāra-hodvigna-manā rathena
- parādravat prāṇa-parīpsur urvyāṁ
- yāvad-gamaṁ rudra-bhayād yathā kaḥ
- (SB 1.7.18)
So here is one reference that Lord Brahmā was pursued by Lord Śiva when Brahmā was running after his beautiful daughter. So similarly, here, Aśvatthāmā, he knew that Arjuna is coming to kill him, so he was running very swiftly. Āpatantaṁ sa vilakṣya dūrāt. From distant place, when he saw that Arjuna was coming... So dehātma-buddhi. This is the distinction between person in bodily concept of life and person who is liberated from the bodily concept of life. So when Durvāsā Muni cursed or wanted to kill... What is the king? Ambarīṣa Mahārāja. So Ambarīṣa Mahārāja was a devotee. Unnecessarily he was harassed by Durvāsā Muni, but because Ambarīṣa Mahārāja was a pure devotee, advanced, he was not afraid of being killed. He was not afraid. There are many instances. Just like Prahlāda Mahārāja. He was attempted to be killed by his father so many times, but he was never afraid. Although he was five-years-old boy, but he was not afraid.