In plain words
Here we have to see two kinds of path. That day, the death of an elephant called Aśvatthāmā was indeed true. It was Kṛṣṇa, the director of the drama of līlā, who urged Dharmaja on, with the thought that if Droṇācārya, sunk in love for his son, were told this news, he might lose his power and capacity; Dharmaja did not say it of his own accord. Dharmaja had a most sacred heart. On this matter he argued with Kṛṣṇa in many ways. ‘Swami, to give Droṇācārya such news without cause and bring him hardships of some kinds is surely not just. My mind does not consent to saying it this way,’ Dharmaja pleaded with Kṛṣṇa. ‘You need not speak Asatya. My dear Dharmaja! Speak only Satya. Say just that the elephant called Aśvatthāmā has died.’ But He told him to say ‘kuñjara’ softly. He told him to change his voice. So he said, ‘Aśvatthāmā hataḥ kuñjaraḥ.’ After the Bhārata war, Dharmarāja, full of remorse, said this to Kṛṣṇa: ‘Brother-in-law, why did You make me speak Asatya?’ he said. ‘Dharmaja, whatever I do, there is justice in it, there is a meaning in it,’ said Śrī Kṛṣṇa. As an example of this, Śrī Kṛṣṇa said this: ‘Dharmaja, suppose a thief enters your house at night, steals valuable things and runs off along a narrow path full of thorns: what will you do then? If you want to catch him, you too must follow him along that same path and catch him; go by some other, good road, and he will not be caught, will he? Only when you follow the path the thief took can you catch the thief; if you go off another way, calling it a fine royal road, that thief will never fall into your hands,’ He said. ‘In the same way, Droṇa, a brāhmaṇa, has no right to take up the sword. He must not wage war. He may only stand in the place of a guru and teach his disciples the science of weapons; for him to take up the sword and stand on the battlefield is one path of adharma. Not only that: to cross swords with the very Pāṇḍavas who are his own disciples is a second path of adharma. We cannot help striking down Droṇācārya, who goes along such a path of adharma. To establish Dharma is My resolve.