386 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 1, Ch. 8
PURPORT

The brahmastras are finer than the nuclear weapons. Aégvatthama dis-
charged the brahmdstras simply to kill the Pandavas, namely the five
brothers headed by Maharaja Yudhisthira and their only grandson lying
within the womb of Uttara. Therefore the brahmdastra, 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 brahmastra is not like that. It marks out
the target and proceeds accordingly without harming the innocent.

TEXT 13

aad eT TATAAATaKAAT |
aan ara tat pasa: 112311

vyasanam viksya tat tesam
ananya-visayatmanam
sudarsanena svastrena
svdndm raksam vyadhad vibhuh

vyasanam—great danger; viksya—having observed it; tat—that; tesam—
their; ananya—any other: visaya—means; dtmanam—thus inclined;
sudarganena—by the wheel of Sri Krsna; sva astrena—by the weapon;
svanadm—of His own devotees; raksam— protection; vyadhat—did it; vibhuh
—the Almighty.

TRANSLATION

The Almighty Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna, having observed that
a great danger was befalling His unalloyed devotees who were fully
surrendered souls, at once took up His Sudarsana disc in order to protect
them.

PURPORT

The brahmastra or the supreme weapon released by Asvatthama was
something similar to the nuclear weapon but with more radiation and
