386
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 1, Ch. 8]
PURPORT
The  brahmāstras  are finer than the nuclear weapons. Aśvatthāmā discharged the  brahmāstras  simply to kill the Pāṇḍavas, namely the five brothers headed by Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira and their only grandson lying within the womb of Uttarā. Therefore the  brahmāstra , more effective and finer than the atomic weapons, was not as blind as the atomic bombs. When the atomic bombs are discharged they do not discriminate between the target and others. Mainly the atomic bombs do harm to the innocent because there is no control. The  brahmāstra  is not like that. It marks out the target and proceeds accordingly without harming the innocent.
TEXT 13
व्यसनं वीक्ष्य तत्तेषामनन्यविषयात्मनाम् । सुदर्शनेन स्वास्त्रेण स्वानां रक्षां व्यधाद्विभुः ॥१३॥
vyasanam vīkṣya tat teṣām ananya-viṣayātmanām sudarśanena svāstreṇa svānām rakṣām vyadhād vibhuḥ
vyasanam—great danger; vīkṣya—having observed it; tat—that; teṣām—their; ananya—any other; viṣaya—means; ātmanām—thus inclined; sudarśanena—by the wheel of Śrī Kṛṣṇa; sva astreṇa—by the weapon; svānām—of His own devotees; rakṣām—protection; vyadhāt—did it; vibhuḥ—the Almighty.
TRANSLATION
The Almighty Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa, having observed that a great danger was befalling His unalloyed devotees who were fully surrendered souls, at once took up His Sudarśana disc in order to protect them.
PURPORT
The  brahmāstra  or the supreme weapon released by Aśvatthāmā was something similar to the nuclear weapon but with more radiation and