Shloka 22
Adhyāya 123 — Droṇa’s Pedagogy: Arjuna’s Preeminence, Ekalavya’s Self-Training, and the Bhāsa-Lakṣya Trial
इन्द्रो हि राजा देवानां प्रधान इति नः श्रुतम् अप्रमेयबलोत्साहो वीर्यवानमितद्युति:
vaiśampāyana uvāca | indro hi rājā devānāṃ pradhāna iti naḥ śrutam | aprameya-balotsāho vīryavān amita-dyutiḥ | mayā tapasā taṃ toṣayitvā mahābalī putraḥ prāptavyaḥ | sa me yaḥ putraṃ dāsyati sa niścayena sarvaśreṣṭho bhaviṣyati | sa saṃgrāme māṃ pratiyoddhṝn manuṣyān manuṣyetarāṃś ca (daitya-dānava-ādīn) hantum api samarthaḥ bhaviṣyati | ato 'haṃ manasā vācā karmaṇā ca mahā-tapas cariṣyāmi |
Vaiśampāyana said: “We have heard that Indra is the king of the gods and foremost among them—of immeasurable strength and zeal, mighty in valor, and of boundless radiance. By austerities I shall satisfy him and obtain a son of great power. The son he grants me will surely be the best of all, capable in battle of slaying those who stand against him—whether human or non-human beings such as Daityas and Dānavas. Therefore, with mind, speech, and deed, I will undertake severe austerity.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the epic idea that disciplined austerity (tapas), aligned through mind, speech, and action, is a potent means to seek divine favor; it also raises an ethical tension: spiritual practice is directed toward acquiring extraordinary martial power, showing how ascetic merit can be harnessed for worldly aims in the Mahābhārata.
The narrator reports a resolve to propitiate Indra through severe austerities in order to obtain a supremely powerful son—one who would be unrivaled and able to defeat even formidable non-human adversaries such as Daityas and Dānavas in battle.