Bramhastra

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BramhaAstra : literally means the weapon of Bramha the creator. Astra means weapon in Sanskrit. The Bramhastra was an energy based weapon used in rare cases by powerful iconic warriors featured in ancient texts of India such as the Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Puranas.

BramhaAstra believed to be most powerful Astra in ancient time. Only few skilled warriors in the ancient India are trained to use this Astra.

BramhaAstra will be used at the last stage; as final option in the War. No one is used this Astra in full-fledged sofar, Since, its energy can destroy the Universe.

Also, As per historic legend, only Arjuna is well versed to use BramhaAstra.

In Mahabharat war, Aswasthaama son of Dronaacharya used BramhaAstra against Arjuna, and Arjuna did the same. To prevent the Universe from the impact of his Astra. Bramha (who owns this Astra) stopped both, and requested both of them to revert it back, Since Arjuna is well versed in BramhaAstra He calls back his Astra. Where as Aswasthaama doesn’t know, how to call it back. On request of Bramha, Arjna taught him to call back the Astra. After that Aswasthaam died.

The Brahmastra was the most powerful weapon known and was rarely ever used. It contained the power of the universe and it could cause massive destruction. It could be likened to a modern-day nuclear weapon, in fact, it probably IS a nuclear weapon. Here is a passage from the Drona Purva describing it's use:

Gurkha, flying a swift and powerful vimana hurled a single projectile charged with the power of the Universe. An incandescent column of smoke and flame, as bright as ten thousand suns, rose with all its splendor.

It was an unknown weapon, an iron thunderbolt, a gigantic messenger of death, which reduced to ashes the entire race of the Vrishnis and the Andhakas.

The corpses were so burned as to be unrecognizable. Hair and nails fell out; Pottery broke without apparent cause, and the birds turned white.

...After a few hours all foodstuffs were infected... ...to escape from this fire the soldiers threw themselves in streams to wash themselves and their equipment."

Dense arrows of flame, like a great shower, issued forth upon creation, encompassing the enemy... A thick gloom swiftly settled upon the Pandava hosts. All points of the compass were lost in darkness. Fierce wind began to blow upward, showering dust and gravel.

Birds croaked madly... the very elements seemed disturbed. The earth shook, scorched by the terrible violent heat of this weapon. Elephants burst into flame and ran to and fro in a frenzy... over a vast area, other animals crumpled to the ground and died. From all points of the compass the arrows of flame rained continuously and fiercely. "

Many articles on ancient Indian Astras appeared in magazines:

"The Mahabharata - an ancient Indian epic compiled 3000 years ago - contains a reference to a terrible weapon. Regrettably, in our age of the atomic bomb, the description of this weapon exploding will not appear to be an exaggeration: '.... a blazing "shaft" (which went upward) possessed of the effulgence of a smokeless fire (which was) let off...'. That was how this weapon was perceived. The consequences of its use also evoke involuntary associations. '... This makes the bodies of the dead unidentifiable. ... The survivors lose their nails and hair, and their food becomes unfit for eating. For several subsequent years the Sun, the stars and the sky remain shrouded with clouds and bad weather'. This weapon was known as the Weapon of Brahma or the Flame of Indra......"

Alexander Gorbovsky, Riddles of Ancient History, The Sputnik Magazine, Moscow, Sept. 1986, p. 137.

Some accounts in ancient European texts appear to be magical. It was due to lack of scientific knowledge of the writers:

Alexander, in a letter to Aristotle, mentions, "the terrific flashes of flame which he beheld showered on his army in India." (See Dante’s Inferno, XIV, 31-7).

Philostratus thus speaks of Alexander’s invasion of the Punjab: "Had Alexander passed the Hyphasis he never could have made himself the master of the fortified habitations of these sages. Should an enemy make war upon the, they drive him of by means of tempests and thunders as if sent down from Heaven. The Egyptian Hercules and Bacchus made a joint attack on them, and by means of various military engines attempted to take the place. The sages remained unconcerned spectators until the assault was made, when it was repulsed by fiery whirlwinds and thunders which, being hurled from above, dealt destruction on the invaders." (source: Philostrati Vit: Apollo, Lib II. C. 35).

Horace Hayman Wilson wrote: "Rockets appear to be of Indian invention, and had long been used in native armies when Europeans came first in contact with them." "It is strange that they (rockets) should now be regarded in Europe as the most recent invention of artillery." (source: Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan: or the Central and Western Rajput States of India - By James Tod South Asia Books; ; 2 edition (April 1998) ISBN 8120803809 Vol. II p. 220 and (source: Historians of M India - Bibliographical Index. Vol. I p. 373 and 357).

http://www.hinduwisdom.info/War_in_Ancient_India.htm#Weapons%20of%20War%20as%20Gathered%20from%20Literature

1998, August . The Biannual Australia and New Zealand Religious Studies Conference: The Principles of the Divine Weapons ( Divya Astras ) and Fiery Energy ( Tejas ) in India's Two Epics.