348
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 1, Ch. 7]
procedure, and Śrī Arjuna, although an intimate friend of the Lord, is observing this method for general information.
TEXT 27
श्रीभगवानुवाच
वेत्थेदं द्रोणपुत्रस्य ब्राह्ममस्त्रं प्रदर्शितम् । नैवासौ वेद संहारं प्राणबाध उपस्थिते ॥२७॥
śrī bhagavān uvāca vetthedaṁ droṇa-putrasya brāhmam-astraṁ pradarśitam naivāsau veda saṁhāraṁ prāṇa-bādha upasthite
śrī bhagavān—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; uvāca—said; vettha—just know from Me; idam—this; droṇa-putrasya—of the son of Droṇa; brāhmam astram—hymns of the brāhma (nuclear) weapon; pradarśitam—exhibited; na—not; eva—even; asau—he; veda—know it; saṁhāram—retraction; prāṇa-bādhe—extinction of life; upasthithe—being imminent.
TRANSLATION
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Know from Me that this is the act of the son of Droṇa. He has thrown the hymns of nuclear energy [brahmāstra], and he does not know how to retract the glare. He has helplessly done this, being afraid of imminent death.
PURPORT
The  brahmāstra  is similar to the modern nuclear weapon manipulated by atomic energy. The atomic energy works wholly on total combustibility, and so the  brahmāstra  also acts. It creates an intolerable heat similar to atomic radiation, but the difference is that the atomic bomb is a gross type of nuclear weapon, whereas the  brahmāstra  is a subtle type of weapon produced by chanting hymns. It is a different science, and in the days gone by such science was cultivated in the land of Bhāratavarṣa. The subtle science of chanting hymns is also  material , but it has yet to be known by the modern material scientists. Subtle material science is  not spiritual , but