30. The Secret of Brahmastra - Part 1

Arjun’s eagerness to know more and to excel more in archery knew no bound. As a part of it, he came to know about the intricacies of the divyastras. Guru Dronacharya had told him about the enormous powers the divyastras were vested with. He was told he would be required to develop his mind-power to be able to master these. Thereafter, in accordance with Dronacharya’s instructions he began to practice in extreme earnest.

On another day, when he found his Guru alone, Arjun humbly asked about the secrets of the Brahma Astra:

‘Revered Gurudev! I have heard Brahm Astra is the most powerful category of all weapons – the most potent amongst the Dvyastras. That there is nothing that can counter it, not even other types of Divyastras. And that there are only very few warriors living in this planet, who are master in handling this – like you, Pitamaha Bhisma and Rishi Parashuram the guru of both you and the Pitamaha’

‘You have heard right! Yes, it is the most powerful category amongst all weapons. It is the one that has the power of Lord Brahma, the creator of this universe. There are of course two more categories of weapons which are equally potent – Pahupat Astra which is vested with the power of Lord Shiva and Vaishnav Astra which carries the power of Lord Vishnu. All these three categories of weapons are immensely dangerous. Each can annihilate the whole universe- I mean the entire creation, not merely the world. I’m conversant with Brahma Astra but not the other two. Pitamaha Bhisma is adept at both Brahma Astra and Vaishnav Astra. Such a person would be extremely rare who has mastery over all the three. By that I mean Brahma Astra, Vaishnav Astra and Pashupat Astra’ – Dronacharya spoke to his devoted disciple who was listening intently.

‘Sire, I beg of you to teach me the Brahma Astra. I’m prepared to undergo any length of practice, meditation, or any other suffering that you ask of me to learn this, which I consider is the ultimate achievement for all great archers’ – Arjun made a fervent plea.

‘Son  Arjun. Don’t  get impatient. I would of course teach those amongst you who would prove themselves worthy of this great weapon. But listen to some conditions. If you are left with same earnest after you hear me out, you would pass the first test’- Dronacharya said.

‘Tell me Gurudev. Here I sit beneath your feet eager to listen’ – replied Arjun.

29. The secret of the Divyastras - the celestial weapons

It was a sultry summer noon, Guru Dronacharya was seen sitting under a banyan tree with two of his most favourite disciples – Arjun and Aswathama. He was giving them special lessons. His other disciples were sent to fetch water from the nearby river and they had not returned till then. The princes had a very hard training schedule right from the dawn. They were therefore enjoying the break and seemed to be in no hurry to return. But these two would not like to loose even seconds – especially Arjun was keen to make use of every bit of the waking hours in taking new lessons from his Guru. At present, Dronacharya was taking a special session on ‘divyastra’. He was addressing both– his most favourite disciple Arjun and his son Aswathama:

‘Divyastras are not for every one. Didn’t I try hard enough to teach these to many of you, but how many have been able to grasp? Few… very few.. ‘ and he continued heaving a sigh,

‘The fact is that divyastras are very powerful weapons that can cause huge destruction of men and material. To handle that power, mere skill does not suffice. One has to develop psychic power. One has to have exemplary self restraint and a meditative mind. Look, such weapons are driven by mantras. Thus only warriors of elevated and focussed mind can impart them with life force. These weapons mobilise elemental forces from the Nature which make them so powerful and devastating.’

Two worthy disciples were listening with rapt attention. They looked at their Guru with reverence. Their eyes however sought to ask him if he finds them worthy for this purpose.