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
brahmāstraṁ brāhmaṇo vidyād yathāvac caritavrataḥ | kṣatriyo vā tapasvī yo nānyo vidyāt kathaṁcana ||
“वत्स! ब्रह्मास्त्र को ठीक-ठीक वही ब्राह्मण जान सकता है जिसने यथावत् व्रत-आचरण (ब्रह्मचर्य आदि) का पालन किया हो, अथवा वह क्षत्रिय जो सच्चा तपस्वी हो। इसके सिवा कोई भी इसे किसी प्रकार नहीं सीख सकता।”
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.