Shloka 13
Adhyāya 2: Nārada’s Disclosure—Karṇa’s Training and the Brahmin’s Curse (Śānti-parva)
ब्र्मास्त्र ब्राह्मणो विद्याद् यथावच्चरितव्रत: । क्षत्रियो वा तपस्वी यो नान्यो विद्यात् कथंचन,“वत्स! ब्रह्मास्त्रको ठीक-ठीक ब्रह्मचर्यव्रतका पालन करनेवाला ब्राह्मण जान सकता है अथवा तपस्वी क्षत्रिय। दूसरा कोई किसी तरह इसे नहीं सीख सकता”
brahmāstraṁ brāhmaṇo vidyād yathāvac caritavrataḥ | kṣatriyo vā tapasvī yo nānyo vidyāt kathaṁcana ||
“বৎস! ব্ৰহ্মাস্ত্ৰ যথাৰ্থভাবে জানিব পাৰে সেই ব্ৰাহ্মণ, যিয়ে বিধিপূৰ্বক ব্ৰত-আচৰণ (ব্ৰহ্মচৰ্য আদি) পালন কৰিছে; অথবা সেই ক্ষত্ৰিয়, যিজন সত্য তপস্বী। অন্য কোনোবাই কোনোভাবেই ইয়াক শিকিব নোৱাৰে।”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Extraordinary power (here, the Brahmāstra) is inseparable from ethical qualification: only one who has disciplined conduct and austerity—either a properly vowed Brahmin or an ascetic Kshatriya—may legitimately know it; mere curiosity or ambition is disqualifying.
Narada lays down a rule of eligibility for learning the Brahmāstra, emphasizing that such knowledge is restricted to those proven in vows and tapas, thereby warning against unfit transmission and misuse of destructive power.