Aśvatthāmā was thinking of this brahmāstra. Astraṁ brahma-śiro mene ātma-trāṇaṁ dvijātmajaḥ. Hopelessly. So far, of course, I know that this nuclear weapon was already discovered by the German people, and Hitler, it is said that he did not use it. Because he knew it that "If I throw this nuclear weapon there will be devastation." So from this point it can be considered that he had some human consideration. So he's advertised very adversely, but if it is a true fact, then how he could have this human consideration that he did not throw the nuclear weapon? And this was taken by the Americans and it was thrown in Japan. That is the history so far we know. So anyway, as we have got experience, the nuclear weapon is very, very dangerous. Similarly, the brahmāstra is also very, very dangerous. And another weapon, they knew this art, śabda-bhedhī. Śabda-bhedhī means "If I throw some arrow, it will go to my enemy wherever he is. A little sound of the enemy will attract this weapon, and it is sure to kill my enemy." Śabda-bhedhī. There are many instances in Rāmāyaṇa, Mahābhārata. Śabda-bhedhī-bān.
So such warfare of mantra, very subtle. This, at the present moment this warfare is carried on gross weapons. But finer than that, there is mantra war. By mantras the warfare can go on. So this warfare is mantra. That is . . . Just like indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ (BG 3.42). It is said in the Bhagavad-gītā that the indriyāṇi, so far our body is concerned, the indriyas, the senses are prominent. But more important than the senses, above the senses, is the mind. Indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ (BG 3.42). So as we have discovered so many weapons . . . That is gross, to be handled by senses. Even this nuclear weapon, it is handled by the scientists. But it is not by mantra. That science is still to be discovered by the modern scientists, how to . . . Or just like this mantra. Snake-charming mantra still there are. You are dealing the snake poison with some counter medicine. This is one kind of treatment. But there is another kind of treatment. That is called mantra, by chanting mantra. Or by herbs you can counteract snake bite. Still, there are in India. Therefore Cāṇakya Paṇḍita said that mantrauṣadhi-vaśaḥ sarpaḥ. Sarpa means snake. It can be brought under control by mantra and herbs. Still, in our Māyāpur some Muhammadans, they know how to use these herbs and mantras for treating snake bite. In Māyāpur there are many snakes, and occasionally snakebite cases are there. But they treat it. And mantra has got power; it has been seen by many medical men in Lucknow. That's a long story.