Arjuna saves Drona from a crocodile and receives Brahmashira

A few days later, Drona went with all his students to bathe in the Ganga. When the preceptor entered the water, a powerful crocodile — as if sent by destiny itself — surged up and seized him by the thigh. Though Drona was quite capable of saving himself, he called out to his students. “Kill the crocodile! Quickly, save me!” He had barely finished speaking. Arjuna — also called Bibhatsu — had already fixed five sharp arrows to his bowstring and let them loose. The arrows shot underwater and killed the crocodile. The other princes were still standing on the bank, looking at each other in confusion. Drona watched the crocodile, chopped into many pieces by Arjuna’s arrows, let go of his thigh and dissolve back into the five elements. He was extremely pleased. The Pandava’s swiftness in action, the instinct that outpaced thought, decided the matter for Drona: this was the best of his students. He told Arjuna, “O mighty-armed one, receive this invincible and supreme weapon. It is named Brahmashira.” He gave Arjuna the knowledge of how to release it and, crucially, how to withdraw it. “You must never use it against human beings,” Drona warned. “If it is used against an enemy whose energy is inferior, it will burn up the entire universe. There is nothing superior to this weapon in the three worlds. Preserve it carefully. Only if a superhuman enemy ever fights with you, use it to kill him in battle.” Arjuna promised with joined hands to do as he was asked and received the supreme weapon. His preceptor looked at him and said again, “No man in the world will be a greater archer than you.”