Shloka 35
अस्त्रं ब्राह्म॑ं मनसा युध्यजेयं क्षेप्स्ये पार्थायाप्रमेयं जयाय । तेनापि मे नैव मुच्येत युद्धे न चेत् पतेद् विषमे मे5द्य चक्रम्,“मैं युद्धमें अजेय तथा असीम शक्तिशाली ब्रह्मास्त्रका मन-ही-मन स्मरण करके अपनी विजयके लिये अर्जुनपर प्रहार करूँगा। यदि मेरे रथका पहिया किसी विषम स्थानमें न फँस जाय तो उस अस्त्रसे अर्जुन रणभूमिमें जीवित नहीं छूट सकते
astraṃ brāhmaṃ manasā yudhyajeyaṃ kṣepsye pārthāyāprameyaṃ jayāya | tenāpi me naiva mucyeta yuddhe na cet pated viṣame me 'dya cakram ||
Sañjaya said: “I shall, by mental invocation, employ the immeasurable Brahmā-weapon and hurl it at Pārtha for the sake of victory. Even by that weapon he would not escape alive from the battle—if only my chariot-wheel today does not sink into uneven ground.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tension between human resolve and the limits imposed by fate and circumstance: even the mightiest power (a supreme divine weapon) can be thwarted by a small contingency (a wheel stuck in uneven ground). It also raises ethical pressure-points of war—victory sought through overwhelming force, yet conditioned by dharma and destiny.
Sañjaya reports a warrior’s intention to mentally invoke the Brahmā-weapon and strike Arjuna to secure victory, asserting that Arjuna would not survive—provided the speaker’s chariot-wheel does not get trapped in rough ground, a foreshadowing of a decisive battlefield impediment.