Shloka 13
Adhyāya 2: Nārada’s Disclosure—Karṇa’s Training and the Brahmin’s Curse (Śānti-parva)
ब्र्मास्त्र ब्राह्मणो विद्याद् यथावच्चरितव्रत: । क्षत्रियो वा तपस्वी यो नान्यो विद्यात् कथंचन,“वत्स! ब्रह्मास्त्रको ठीक-ठीक ब्रह्मचर्यव्रतका पालन करनेवाला ब्राह्मण जान सकता है अथवा तपस्वी क्षत्रिय। दूसरा कोई किसी तरह इसे नहीं सीख सकता”
brahmāstraṁ brāhmaṇo vidyād yathāvac caritavrataḥ | kṣatriyo vā tapasvī yo nānyo vidyāt kathaṁcana ||
Narada said: “Only a Brahmin who has correctly observed the vow of disciplined conduct (brahmacarya and allied restraints) can truly know the Brahmāstra—or else a Kshatriya who is an authentic ascetic. No one else can learn it in any way.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Extraordinary power (here, the Brahmāstra) is inseparable from ethical qualification: only one who has disciplined conduct and austerity—either a properly vowed Brahmin or an ascetic Kshatriya—may legitimately know it; mere curiosity or ambition is disqualifying.
Narada lays down a rule of eligibility for learning the Brahmāstra, emphasizing that such knowledge is restricted to those proven in vows and tapas, thereby warning against unfit transmission and misuse of destructive power.