Shloka 4
Book 10, Adhyāya 12: Aśvatthāmā’s Request for the Cakra and the Brahmaśiras Context
“भरतश्रेष्ठ) भीमसेन आपको समस्त भाइयोंसे अधिक प्रिय हैं; किंतु आज वे संकटमें पड़ गये हैं। फिर आप उनकी सहायताके लिये जाते क्यों नहीं हैं? ।। यत् तदाचष्ट पुत्राय द्रोण: परपुरञ्जय: । अस्त्रं ब्रहद्मशिरो नाम दहेत पृथिवीमपि,'शत्रुओंकी नगरीपर विजय पानेवाले द्रोणाचार्यने अपने पुत्रको जिस ब्रह्मशिर नामक अस्त्रका उपदेश दिया है, वह समस्त भूमण्डलको भी दग्ध कर सकता है
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
"bharataśreṣṭha! bhīmasenaḥ sarvabhyo bhrātṛbhyaḥ te 'dhikaṁ priyaḥ; kintv adya sa saṅkaṭe patitaḥ | tataḥ kiṁ na tasya sahāyatāyai gacchasi? ||
yat tad ācakṣe putrāya droṇaḥ parapurañjayaḥ |
astraṁ brahmaśiro nāma dahet pṛthivīm api ||"
Vaiśampāyana said: “O best of the Bharatas! Bhīmasena is dearer to you than all your brothers, yet today he has fallen into peril. Why then do you not go to aid him? That weapon which Droṇa—conqueror of enemy strongholds—taught to his son, the missile called Brahmaśiras, is capable of burning even the earth itself.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the ethical tension of warfare: affection and duty urge immediate aid to a loved one, while the mention of the Brahmaśiras—an earth-scorching weapon—warns that resorting to extreme force can endanger all, not merely the intended enemy. It implicitly cautions against escalation and underscores responsibility in the use of powerful knowledge.
The narrator points out that Bhīma, especially dear to the addressed person, has fallen into danger and questions why help is not being given. The scene is intensified by recalling that Droṇa taught his son a devastating missile, the Brahmaśiras, capable of burning the earth—suggesting that the crisis involves (or could provoke) the use of catastrophic astras.