Shloka 29
Brahmaśirastra-pratisaṃhāra — Retraction and redirection of the supreme weapon
Sauptika Parva, Adhyāya 15
यमाबध्य भयं नास्ति शस्त्रव्याधिक्षुधाश्रयम् । देवेभ्यो दानवेभ्यो वा नागेभ्यो वा कथंचन
yamābadhya bhayaṁ nāsti śastravyādhi-kṣudhāśrayam | devebhyo dānavebhyo vā nāgebhyo vā kathaṁcana
Having been bound by Yama (the Lord of Death), there is no fear—whether arising from weapons, disease, or hunger. In no way is there fear from the gods, the Dānavas, or the Nāgas either.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
When death’s power (Yama’s bond) is inevitable, ordinary sources of fear—violence, illness, hunger, or even mighty beings—lose their hold; the verse points to the limits of worldly terror and the certainty of mortality.
Vyāsa delivers a reflective statement amid the grim aftermath of the night-raid context of the Sauptika Parva, emphasizing that once death has seized a being, external threats no longer matter—framing the devastation with a philosophical lens.