व्यसनं वीक्ष्य तत्तेषामनन्यविषयात्मनाम् ।
सुदर्शनेन स्वास्त्रेण स्वानां रक्षां व्यधाद्विभुः ॥१३॥

vyasanaá¹ vÄ«ká¹£ya tat teá¹£Äm
ananya-viá¹£ayÄtmanÄm
sudarÅ›anena svÄstreṇa
svÄnÄá¹ raká¹£Äá¹ vyadhÄd vibhuḥ

 vyasanam - great danger; vÄ«ká¹£ya - having observed; tat - that; teá¹£Äm - their; ananya - no other; viá¹£aya - means; ÄtmanÄm - thus inclined; sudarÅ›anena - by the wheel of ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa; sva-astreṇa - by the weapon; svÄnÄm - of His own devotees; raká¹£Äm - protection; vyadhÄt - did it; vibhuḥ - the Almighty.


Text

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 to protect them.

Purport

The brahmÄstra, the supreme weapon released by AÅ›vatthÄmÄ, was something similar to the nuclear weapon but with more radiation and heat. This brahmÄstra is the product of a more subtle science, being the product of a finer sound, a mantra recorded in the Vedas. Another advantage of this weapon is that it is not blind like the nuclear weapon because it can be directed only to the target and nothing else. AÅ›vatthÄmÄ released the weapon just to finish all the male members of PÄṇá¸u’s family; therefore in one sense it was more dangerous than the atomic bombs because it could penetrate even the most protected place and would never miss the target. Knowing all this, Lord ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa at once took up His personal weapon to protect His devotees, who did not know anyone other than Kṛṣṇa. In the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ the Lord has clearly promised that His devotees are never to be vanquished. And He behaves according to the quality or degree of the devotional service rendered by the devotees. Here the word ananya-viá¹£ayÄtmanÄm is significant. The PÄṇá¸avas were cent-percent dependent on the protection of the Lord, although they were all great warriors themselves. But the Lord neglects even the greatest warriors and also vanquishes them in no time. When the Lord saw that there was no time for the PÄṇá¸avas to counteract the brahmÄstra of AÅ›vatthÄmÄ, He took up His weapon even at the risk of breaking His own vow. Although the Battle of Kuruká¹£etra was almost finished, still, according to His vow, He should not have taken up His own weapon. But the emergency was more important than the vow. He is better known as the bhakta-vatsala, or the lover of His devotee, and thus He preferred to continue as bhakta-vatsala than to be a worldly moralist who never breaks his solemn vow.