Shloka 8
Adhyāya 41 — Kṛṣṇa’s Battlefield Briefing and the Renewal of the Great Engagement
स मां निशम्याथ महातपस्वी संशप्तवान् रोषपरीतचेता: । सूतोपधावाप्तमिदं तवास्त्र न कर्मकाले प्रतिभास्यति त्वाम्
sa māṁ niśamyātha mahātapasvī saṁśaptavān roṣaparītacetāḥ | sūtopadhāvāptam idaṁ tavāstraṁ na karmakāle pratibhāsyati tvām ||
सञ्जय उवाच—तन्मम वृत्तान्तं निशम्य महातपस्वी परशुरामो रोषपरीतचेताः शापमब्रवीत्—“सूत! त्वया छलादिदं ब्रह्मास्त्रं प्राप्तम्। तस्मात् कर्मकाले समुपस्थितेऽस्मिन्नस्त्रं तव न प्रतिभास्यति।”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sacred power or knowledge obtained through deception carries an inherent flaw: at the decisive moment it fails. The verse frames this as a moral law—untruth in the means undermines the reliability of the end.
Sañjaya recounts that Paraśurāma, angered after learning the truth, curses the recipient of the weapon: because the Brahmāstra was acquired by deceit, it will not be remembered when it is most needed in battle.