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
Lorsqu’on est lié par Yama (le Seigneur de la Mort), il n’est plus de crainte — qu’elle vienne des armes, de la maladie ou de la faim. Et d’aucune manière il n’y a crainte des dieux, des Dānava ou des Nāga non plus.
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.