Shloka 306
Śānti-parva Adhyāya 3: Karṇa’s training under Rāma Jāmadagnya and the Bhārgava restriction on the Brahmāstra
अन्यत्र वधकालात् ते सदृशेन समीयुष: । 'मूढ़! तूने ब्रह्मास्त्रके लोभसे झूठ बोलकर यहाँ मेरे साथ मिथ्याचार (कपटपूर्ण व्यवहार) किया है, इसलिये जबतक तू संग्राममें अपने समान योद्धाके साथ नहीं भिड़ेगा और तेरी मृत्युका समय निकट नहीं आ जायगा, तभीतक तुझे इस ब्रह्मास्त्रका स्मरण बना रहेगा
anyatra vadhakālāt te sadṛśena samīyuṣaḥ | mūḍha tvaṁ brahmāstrake lobhase jhūṭhaṁ bolakara iha mayā saha mithyācāraḥ (kapaṭapūrṇa-vyavahāraḥ) kṛtaḥ | tasmāt yāvat tvaṁ saṅgrāme svasadṛśena yoddhunā na bhiḍyase na ca te mṛtyukālaḥ sannikaṭo bhaviṣyati tāvat te ’sya brahmāstrasya smaraṇaṁ sthāsyati ||
Nārada said: “Except at the time of your death—when you meet an opponent equal to yourself—you will not be free of it. Fool! Out of greed for the Brahmāstra you lied and dealt with me here through deceit. Therefore, until you engage in battle with a warrior like yourself and the hour of your death draws near, the memory of this Brahmāstra will remain fixed upon you.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Greed-driven deceit (lying about sacred power and acting with duplicity) binds one to lasting consequences; ethical failure produces an inescapable mental burden that is relieved only at a destined, dharmic resolution—here, the fatal encounter with an equal in battle.
Nārada rebukes the addressed person for lying about the Brahmāstra and behaving deceitfully toward him. As a consequence, Nārada declares that the person will remain haunted by the Brahmāstra’s remembrance until he meets an equal warrior in battle and his death becomes imminent.