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
Una vez atado por Yama (Señor de la Muerte), no hay temor: ni el que nace de las armas, ni de la enfermedad, ni del hambre. Y de ningún modo hay temor de los dioses, de los Dānavas o de los Nāgas.
व्यास उवाच
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.