Shloka 40
ततो द्रोणो ब्राह्ममस्त्रं विकुर्वाणो नरर्षभ: । व्यहनच्छात्रवान् भल्लै: शतशो5थ सहस्रश:
tato droṇo brāhmam astraṁ vikurvāṇo nararṣabhaḥ | vyahanac chātravān bhallaiḥ śataśo ’tha sahasraśaḥ ||
Then Droṇa, that bull among men, set the Brahmā-weapon into active operation. With razor-headed arrows he struck down the helmeted warriors—by the hundreds, and then by the thousands.
कृप उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how the use of supreme astras can rapidly magnify destruction; it implicitly raises the ethical question of proportionality in warfare—whether extraordinary power should be unleashed when it leads to indiscriminate, large-scale slaughter.
Kṛpa describes Droṇa deploying the Brāhmāstra and cutting down large numbers of helmeted fighters with bhalla arrows, indicating a decisive and intensified phase of the battle where celestial weaponry overwhelms ordinary troops.