Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 18
अदूरात् तु ततस्तेषां ब्रह्म॒दत्तवरं सर: । हताहता वै तत्रैते जीवन्त्याप्लुत्य दानवा:
adūrāt tu tatas teṣāṃ brahmadattavaraṃ saraḥ | hatāhatā vai tatraite jīvanty āplutya dānavāḥ ||
Hindi kalayuan sa kanila ay may isang lawa na pinagkalooban ng biyaya ni Brahmā. Doon, ang mga Dānava—kahit paulit-ulit na mapabagsak—ay muling nabubuhay sa sandaling lumusong at lumubog sa tubig. Kaya tuwing may bumabagsak sa labanan, binubuhat siya ng iba at inihahagis sa lawa; pagkalubog pa lamang, siya’y bumabangon na muli, naibabalik ang buhay.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how extraordinary boons can suspend ordinary consequences (like death in battle), creating moral and strategic complications; it implicitly warns that power granted by divine favor can prolong conflict and intensify violence rather than resolve it.
Bhīṣma describes a nearby lake endowed with Brahmā’s boon: Dānavas who are killed are carried by their companions to the lake, and by immersing in it they revive, returning to the fight.