Shloka 37
सर्वस्त्रिप्रतिघातार्थ विहितं पद्मययोनिना । महाराज! उस समय अर्जुनने ब्रह्मास्त्रको प्रकट किया; जिसे ब्रह्माजीने सम्पूर्ण अस्त्रोंके विनाशके लिये बनाया है ।। ततो मुहूर्तादिव तत् तमो व्युपशशाम ह
saṃjaya uvāca |
sarvāstrapratighātārthaṃ vihitaṃ padmayoninā |
mahārāja! tadā arjunena brahmāstraṃ prakaṭīkṛtaṃ, yad brahmaṇā sarvāstravināśāya nirmitaṃ ||
tato muhūrtād iva tat tamo vyupaśaśāma |
Sañjaya said: “O great king, at that time Arjuna brought forth the Brahmāstra—ordained by Brahmā, the lotus-born, for the purpose of countering and destroying all other weapons. Then, as if within a mere moment, that enveloping darkness subsided.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the idea that overwhelming power in war is framed as a regulated, purpose-bound force: the Brahmāstra is described as ‘ordained’ specifically to counter and nullify other weapons. Ethically, it points to the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension between necessity in battle and the responsibility to use supreme force only with clear intent and restraint.
Sanjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Arjuna manifests the Brahmāstra, a supreme weapon attributed to Brahmā and capable of destroying other astras. Immediately afterward, the oppressive darkness present in the scene is pacified and clears.