Shloka 31
Brahmaśirastra-pratisaṃhāra — Retraction and redirection of the supreme weapon
Sauptika Parva, Adhyāya 15
यत्तु मे भगवानाह तन्मे कार्यमनन्तरम् | अयं मणिरयं चाहमीषिका तु पतिष्यति
yat tu me bhagavān āha tan me kāryam anantaram | ayaṃ maṇir ayaṃ cāham īṣikā tu patiṣyati |
Vyāsa sprach: „Doch was immer der erhabene Herr mir geboten hat — das muss ich unverzüglich tun. Hier ist das Juwel, und hier bin ich (in Ergebung). Dennoch wird dieser Grashalm, durch eine göttliche Waffe beschworen, gewiss auf die Ungeborenen in den Leibern der Pāṇḍavas fallen; denn dieses höchste Geschoss verfehlt niemals. O Herr, ich vermag die Waffe nicht zurückzunehmen, sobald sie einmal entsandt ist.“
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharma as immediate obedience to rightful command and the moral weight of actions once set in motion: a weapon released—especially one empowered as ‘unfailing’—cannot be casually recalled, so restraint and responsibility must precede its use.
The speaker submits to the Lord’s instruction by offering the jewel and himself, yet warns that the consecrated īṣikā carrying a divine missile will still strike the Pāṇḍavas’ unborn offspring, because the weapon is described as amogha (infallible) and cannot be withdrawn after release.