As India prepares to witness its biggest & most awaited film of the year “Brahmastra”, tensions and criticism is on a high not because the last few years for Bollywood have been difficult with no good content released but because a far more important question arises that of “Is The Portrayal Of Indian Mythology accurate?”
since one thing we know about India is that religious portrayal of our Gods can start some big currents in the ocean if not done properly. India’s history in doing that has been strong so the question rises to Ayan Mukherji’s directorial who has defended the criticism right from when the first teaser was released and has continued to do that.
But what if the portrayal of ancient India and its Mythology isn’t accurate or worse, it offends certain sections of people that are going to be a big hit to the jugular right? Well, the film is about to release in just a few days but we thought we’ll talk about what the weapon Brahmastra is and what the film is about. The information about the film has been compiled from what interviews we have with the creators of Brahmastra: The Film.
Brahmastra The Weapon
Right in our early ancient history, let it be our two major epics Ramayana and Mahabharata there has been mentions of the greatest weapon that can cause mass destruction but the knowledge required to wield that weapon not just comes to anyone, they have to be worthy enough.
That weapon is Brahmastra, the weapon of Lord Brahma who is among the Trimurti (Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh). Some of Brahmastra’s wielders are Lord Rama, Arjun, Aswasthama, and Drona. It was after the great war of Kurukshetra, that Aswasthama called The Brahmastra to kill Uttara’s child who is in the womb, and in opposition, Arjun did the same by calling Brahmastra.
While Brahmastra is person-centric, Brahmashirsha is far more destructive and causes mass annihilation of whatever is there and also prevents a single leaf of grass from ever growing in that place for a long time. Brahmashirsha Astra causes fatalities in the past, present, and future of that given place.
Brahmastra is a weapon that is called upon by wielders who have been passed on the knowledge about how to call. That knowledge about how to wield or call it is passed on by sages who also possess that knowledge. In Mahabharta, it was Lord Parashurama and Drona who passed on that knowledge to Karna, Arjun, and Aswasthama.
Brahmastra The Movie
From whatever we’ve seen about the film from the interviews by Ayan Mukherji, the director, and writer of the film. It all starts from a starry night where the Great Sages are performing deep meditation and are blessed with the most powerful and pure energy known as Brahm-Shakti or Brahm Jyoti and from that Brahm Shakti, The Astras are born that wield within them the basic forces of nature like Water, Earth & Fire. Other Astras are of those of animals like A Monkey, a Bull, and a Snake.
These powerful Astras are blessed to those Great Sages but the last one to come is the one that has all the collective essence of all the Atras combined and within it has destruction far more so that it can destroy the Universe as it is.
They name it after one of the most destructive weapons of The Gods, Brahmastra that Lord Brahma, the creator of all beings wields. The Great Sages are alarmed with the power of Brahmastra and vow to protect it and create Brahmansh, a secret society that will protect the Brahmastra from anyone that would use it for anything wrong and also protect the world while doing so. That knowledge is passed on to generations with the power of the Astras as well.
Difference
The Brahmastra that we will see in the movie is not the ancient weapon that we’ve read about in the Indian Epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana. The Brahmastra we see in the movie is a very powerful weapon capable of destruction and seeing that similarity, the Great Sages named it after Lord Brahma’s Weapon.