Ashwathama

About a year ago one of the people who subscribes to my YouTube channel, Akesh Suresh, requested that I record the story of Ashwathama, which forms part of the Hindu epic The Mahabharata - a poem so long and complex it makes Game of Thrones seem like 'Room on the Broom' by contrast.
This is not the full story, just running from his birth up to the avenging of his father's death. Apologies to any Indian viewers for the poor pronunciations, but I haven't heard enough people telling these stories to get the pattern of sound. For anyone unfamiliar with the background plot, the short version is that the land of Kurukshetra descends into war as two rival dynasties (who are cousins) rip each other apart - the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Corpses pile up all over the place, including that of our hero's father. This carnage is the background to this short tale.
The descriptions of the divine weapons do sound like something out of a sci-fi movie, but I have tried to resist the urge to go all Von Daniken (or to suggest that one of the seven immortal guardians of Earth during the Age of Kali Yuga, the Chiranjivi, might be a Time Lord... but we already know that all the good wizards always turn out to be him in the end!).
No elephants were harmed in the telling of this tale - though the imagery of the substitute sacrifice has got me wondering about links with other stories and the general symbolism of the elephant.