Shloka 31
Brahmaśirastra-pratisaṃhāra — Retraction and redirection of the supreme weapon
Sauptika Parva, Adhyāya 15
यत्तु मे भगवानाह तन्मे कार्यमनन्तरम् | अयं मणिरयं चाहमीषिका तु पतिष्यति
yat tu me bhagavān āha tan me kāryam anantaram | ayaṃ maṇir ayaṃ cāham īṣikā tu patiṣyati |
Vyāsa said: “But whatever the Blessed Lord has commanded me—that is what I must do at once. Here is the jewel, and here am I (submitting myself). Yet this blade of grass, empowered by a divine weapon, will indeed fall upon the unborn children of the Pāṇḍavas, for this supreme missile is unfailing. O Lord, I am unable to withdraw this weapon once it has been released.”
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharma as immediate obedience to rightful command and the moral weight of actions once set in motion: a weapon released—especially one empowered as ‘unfailing’—cannot be casually recalled, so restraint and responsibility must precede its use.
The speaker submits to the Lord’s instruction by offering the jewel and himself, yet warns that the consecrated īṣikā carrying a divine missile will still strike the Pāṇḍavas’ unborn offspring, because the weapon is described as amogha (infallible) and cannot be withdrawn after release.