Shloka 34
Brahmaśirastra-pratisaṃhāra — Retraction and redirection of the supreme weapon
Sauptika Parva, Adhyāya 15
व्यास उवाच एवं कुरु न चान्या तु बुद्धि: कार्या त्वयानघ । गर्भेषु पाण्डवेयानां विसृज्यैतदुपारम
vyāsa uvāca evaṃ kuru na cānyā tu buddhiḥ kāryā tvayānagha | garbheṣu pāṇḍaveyānāṃ visṛjyaitad upārama ||
Vyāsa sprach: „Handle genau so und hege keinen anderen Plan in deinem Sinn, o Makelloser. Nachdem du diese Waffe auf die Ungeborenen in den Leibern der Linie der Pāṇḍavas losgelassen hast, halte ein und werde ruhig.“
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
A sage’s counsel emphasizes single-minded obedience to a chosen course and, more importantly, the ethical demand to cease further escalation once a decisive act has been set in motion—urging restraint and pacification rather than continued, uncontrolled violence.
Vyāsa addresses the warrior who has invoked a terrible weapon and instructs him not to waver with alternative schemes: he is to release the weapon toward the unborn heirs of the Pāṇḍava line and then stop—signaling a grim moment where the conflict extends even to the next generation, while the sage simultaneously presses for an end to further agitation.