Shloka 7
Brahmaśirastra-pratisaṃhāra — Retraction and redirection of the supreme weapon
Sauptika Parva, Adhyāya 15
ब्रह्मतेजोद्धवं तद्धि विसृष्टमकृतात्मना । न शक््यमावर्तयितु ब्रह्मचारिव्रतादृते,वह अस्त्र ब्रह्मतेजसे प्रकट हुआ था। यदि अजितेन्द्रिय पुरुषके द्वारा इसका प्रयोग किया गया हो तो उसके लिये इसे पुनः: लौटाना असम्भव है; क्योंकि ब्रह्मचर्य-व्रतका पालन किये बिना कोई इसे लौटा नहीं सकता
brahmatejoddhavaṃ taddhi visṛṣṭam akṛtātmanā | na śakyam āvartayituṃ brahmacārivratād ṛte ||
वैशंपायन म्हणाले—ते अस्त्र ब्रह्मतेजापासून उत्पन्न झाले होते. जर ते असंयमी पुरुषाने सोडले असेल तर ते पुन्हा परत आणणे अशक्य; कारण ब्रह्मचर्य-व्रताशिवाय कोणीही ते आवरू शकत नाही.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sacred power (brahma-tejas) demands inner discipline. When a supreme weapon is used by an undisciplined person, it becomes ethically and practically uncontrollable; only rigorous brahmacarya-like restraint qualifies one to withdraw or neutralize such force.
In the Sauptika Parva context of catastrophic night-violence and the use of terrible astras, the narrator explains a rule about Brahman-powered weapons: once discharged by someone without self-mastery, recalling it is not feasible, because the capacity to retract it depends on strict ascetic discipline.