The Brahmashirā astra is the most destructive weapon described in the ancient Indian texts, capable to end the existence of gods or
Devas.
It is thought that the Brahmashirā astra is superior than the
Brahmāstra, and causes chain reaction of massive explosions and waves to annihilate any desired entity of the Universe or even the Universe itself. The weapon manifests with the four heads of Lord
Brahma
Brahma ( sa, ब्रह्मा, Brahmā) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the trinity of supreme divinity that includes Vishnu, and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp ...
as its tip.
Sage Agnivesa,
Parshurama
Parashurama (), also referred to as Rama Jamadagnya, Rama Bhargava and Veerarama, is the sixth avatar among the Dashavatara of the preserver god Vishnu in Hinduism. He is believed to be one of the ''Chiranjeevis'' (Immortals), who will appear ...
,
Arjuna
Arjuna (Sanskrit: अर्जुन, ), also known as Partha and Dhananjaya, is a character in several ancient Hindu texts, and specifically one of the major characters of the Indian epic Mahabharata. In the epic, he is the third among Pand ...
and
Ashwatthama
In the Hindu epic the ''Mahabharata'', Ashwatthama ( sa, अश्वत्थामा, Aśvatthāmā) or Drauni was the son of guru Drona and Kripi (sister of Kripacharya). He was the grandson of the sage Bharadwaja. Ashwatthama ruled the ...
possessed the knowledge to invoke this weapon.
This weapon can be invoked into any object, even to a blade of grass.
In the ''
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the K ...
'', it is explained that when this weapon is invoked, "It blazes up with terrible flames within a huge sphere of fire. Numerous peals of thunder to be heard, fissures start on earth, rivers become dry, thousands of meteors fell and all living creatures became terrified with great dread. The entire sky seemed to be filled with noise and assumed a terrible aspect with flames of fire. The whole earth with her mountains and waters and trees trembled". When it strikes an area, it will be destroyed and nothing will ever grow there, not even a blade of grass for the next 50
Brahma years (155.5
trillion
''Trillion'' is a number with two distinct definitions:
* 1,000,000,000,000, i.e. one million million, or (ten to the twelfth power), as defined on the short scale. This is now the meaning in both American and British English.
* 1,000,000,00 ...
human years).
See also
*
Indian epic poetry
Indian epic poetry is the epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent, traditionally called ''Kavya'' (or ''Kāvya''; Sanskrit: काव्य, IAST: ''kāvyá''). The ''Ramayana'' and the ''Mahabharata'', which were originally composed in ...
**
Ramayana
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages e ...
**
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the K ...
**
Puranas
Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...
**
Vyūha
Vyūha ( Sanskrit: व्यूह) means - 'to arrange troops in a battle array (formation)', 'to arrange, put or place in order, to dispose, separate, divide, alter, transpose, disarrange, resolve (vowels syllables etc.)'. Its root is व्य� ...
References
{{Hindu deities and texts
Weapons in Hindu mythology