Shloka 38
Adhyāya 168: Arjuna’s counters to māyā-rains and the onset of darkness
Nivātakavaca engagement
परंतु उस महान् तेजस्वी वीरने क्षणभरमें ही मेरे उस ब्रह्मास्त्रको भी शान्त कर दिया। राजन! उस ब्रह्मास्त्रके नष्ट होनेपर मेरे मनमें महान् भय समा गया ।।
tato 'haṃ dhanur ādāya tathākṣayyau maheṣudhī | sahasābhyahanaṃ bhūtaṃ tāny apy astrāṇy abhakṣayat ||
于是我执起弓，携两只取之不尽的箭囊，满装巨箭，猛然扑向那奇异之人，疾速连发。然而他竟将那些飞矢也如同食物一般吞噬。见我的梵天神箭被化解、诸般兵器尽成徒劳，恐惧便在我心中猛烈升起。
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even the greatest martial skill and the most potent astras can be rendered ineffective before a higher, divinely grounded power; the episode underscores humility and the ethical recognition of human limits in the face of the transcendent.
Arjuna, alarmed after his Brahmāstra is pacified, takes up his bow and his two inexhaustible quivers and attacks the extraordinary being; however, the being simply consumes the missiles, leaving Arjuna shaken with fear.