Ashwathama, a warrior-hero in the epic Mahabharata unleashes this weapon on the Pandava forces. Lord Krishna, who is an avatar of Vishnu tells the Pandavas and their warriors to drop their weapons and lie down on the ground, so that they all surrender completely to the power of the weapon. It was also said that this weapon can be used only once in a war and if one tries to use it twice, then it would devour the user's own army.