Shloka 13
Book 10, Adhyāya 12: Aśvatthāmā’s Request for the Cakra and the Brahmaśiras Context
यत् तदुग्रं तप: कृष्ण चरन् सत्यपराक्रम: । अगस्त्याद् भारताचार्य: प्रत्यपद्यत मे पिता,“दशार्हनन्दन! श्रीकृष्ण! भरतवंशके आचार्य मेरे सत्यपराक्रमी पिताने उग्र तपस्या करके महर्षि अगस्त्यसे जो ब्रह्मास्त्र प्राप्त किया था, वह देवताओं और गन्धर्वोद्वारा सम्मानित अस्त्र इस समय जैसा मेरे पिताके पास है, वैसा ही मेरे पास भी है; अतः यदुश्रेष्ठ! आप मुझसे वह दिव्य अस्त्र लेकर रणभूमिमें शत्रुओंका नाश करनेवाला अपना चक्र नामक अस्त्र मुझे दे दीजिये”
yad tad ugraṁ tapaḥ kṛṣṇa caran satyaparākramaḥ | agastyād bhāratācāryaḥ pratyapadyata me pitā |
Vaiśampāyana said: “O Kṛṣṇa! My father—an ācārya of the Bharata line, steadfast in truth and mighty in valor—once practiced fierce austerities and obtained from the sage Agastya that divine Brahmāstra. That weapon, honored among gods and Gandharvas, is with me now just as it was with my father. Therefore, O best of the Yadus, accept from me that celestial missile, and in return grant me your discus-weapon, the Cakra, which destroys enemies on the battlefield.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how extraordinary power (divine weapons) is framed as the fruit of disciplined tapas and legitimate transmission through lineage, and it raises an ethical tension: even revered, heaven-honored weapons are sought for battlefield destruction, so the pursuit of power must be weighed against dharma and responsibility.
A speaker (reported by Vaiśampāyana) states that his father obtained the Brahmāstra from Agastya through fierce austerities; he claims to possess it now and proposes an exchange with Kṛṣṇa—offering the Brahmāstra and requesting Kṛṣṇa’s enemy-destroying Cakra in return.