First let us recount the story of Ashwatthama’s curse, which is told in the Sauptika Parva of the Mahabharata. After the Mahabharata war, Ashwattama, in order to avenge the death of Duryodhana at the hands of the Pandavas, and presumably also to avenge the death of his father Drona, went into to the camp of the Pandavas at night to kill them. But the Pandavas were away that night, and Ashwatthama instead killed the Upapandavas, the five sons the Pandavas had with Draupadi, thinking it was the Pandavas. When he realized that he had killed five innocent boys, he went to the Ashram (hermitage) of Vyasa to repent for his sin. Then Sri Krishna the Pandavas found out that Ashwatthama had killed their sons, so they tracked his chariot to Vyasa’s hermitage.
When he saw them, Ashwatthama feared for his life, so he launched Brahmastra(weapon of Lord Brahma) at them. And in response Arjuna launched a Brahmashirastra. To prevent the two extremely destructive weapons from doing any damage, the sages Narada and Vyasa came and persuaded Arjuna to withdraw the weapon Vyasa asked Ashwatthama to do the same, but he couldn’t withdraw the Brahmastra, so instead he redirected it to hit the wombs of the Pandava women. This did not serious damage, because although it killed the unborn baby Parikshit in the womb of Abhimanyu’s wife Uttara, Krishna was able to bring it back to life.
In any case, for all his crimes, Sri Krishna issued the following curse on Ashwatthama:
As regards thyself, all wise men know thee for a coward and a sinful wretch! Always engaged in sinful acts, thou art the slayer of children. For this reason, thou must have to bear the fruit of these thy sins. For 3,000 years thou shalt wander over this earth, without a companion and without being able to talk with anyone. Alone and without anybody by thy side, thou shalt wander through diverse countries, O wretch, thou shalt have no place in the midst of men. The stench of pus and blood shall emanate from thee, and inaccessible forests and dreary moors shall be thy abode! Thou shalt wander over the Earth, O thou of sinful soul, with the weight of all diseases on thee.
Since Mahabharata happened before 5000 years, and since Ashwatthama was cursed for wander earth for 3000 years, so he is not alive right now!
But i actually found one interesting thing in Vishnu Purana. According to Vishnu Purana, Ashwatthama will become the Vyasa of the next Mahayuga, as (Krishna Dwaipayana) Vyasa’s father Parashara says:
In the next Dwápara, Drauńi (the son of Drońa) will be the Vyása, when my son, the Muni Krishńa Dwaipáyana, who is the actual Vyása, shall cease to be (in that character).
But this isn’t a reward for his misdeeds. Rather, it’s due to the fact that upon hearing Sri Krishna’s curse, Ashwatthama told Vyasa that he planned to be with him:
“With thyself among all men, O holy one, I shall live! Let the words of this illustrious and foremost of men become true!”
So presumably it is the time that Ashwatthama will have spent with Vyasa, engaging in spiritual pursuits and atoning for his sins, that will make him deserve to succeed Vyasa.
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