śrī-bhagavān uvāca vetthedaṁ droṇa-putrasya brāhmam-astraṁ pradarśitam naivāsau veda saṁhāraṁ prāṇa-bādha upasthite
Synonyms
śrī bhagavān—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; uvāca—said; vettha—just know it from me; idam—this; droṇa-putrasya—of the son of Drona; brāhmam astram—hymns of brahma weapon (nuclear); pradarśitam—exhibited. Na—not; na—even; eva—he; asau—know it; veda—retraction; saṁhāram—extinction of life; prāṇa-bādhe—being imminent.
Translation
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said—"just know it from Me that It is an act of the son of Drona by throwing the hymns of nuclear energy (Brahmastra) and the fellow does not know how to retract the glare. He has done it helplessly being afraid of imminent exitction of life.
Purport
The Brahmastra is similar to the modern nuclear weapon manipuated by atomic energy. The atomic energy works wholely on total combustibility and so also the Brahmastra also acts. It creates an intolerable heat similar to the atomic radiation but the difference is that atomic bombs are gross type of nuclear weapons, whereas Brahmastra is a subtle type of weapon produced by chanting the relative hymns. It is a different science and in the days gone by such science was cultivated in the land of Bharatvarsa. The subtle science of chanting hymns is also material and it has yet to be known by the modern material scientists. Subtle material science is not spiritual but it has direct relation with spiritual method which is still more subtler. Such subtle chanter of the hymns did know bothwise namely how to apply the weapon as well as how to retract it. That was perfect knowledge. But the son of Dronacharya who made use of this subtle science did not know how to retract. He applied it being afraid of his imminent death and thus the practice was not only improper but also irreligious. As a son of Brahmin he should not have so many mistakes and for such gross negligence of duty he was to be punished by the Lord Himself.