Shloka 15
Adhyāya 123 — Droṇa’s Pedagogy: Arjuna’s Preeminence, Ekalavya’s Self-Training, and the Bhāsa-Lakṣya Trial
सर्वेषां बलिनां श्रेष्ठो जातो5यमिति भारत । इदमत्यद्भुतं चासीज्जातमात्रे वृकोदरे
sarveṣāṃ balināṃ śreṣṭho jāto ’yam iti bhārata | idam atyadbhutaṃ cāsīj jātamātre vṛkodare ||
Vaiśampāyana berkata: “Wahai Bhārata, suatu suara telah mengisytiharkan, ‘Anak ini telah lahir sebagai yang terunggul antara semua yang gagah.’ Dan sesungguhnya, pada saat Vṛkodara dilahirkan, terjadilah suatu keajaiban yang amat luar biasa.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames extraordinary strength as a divinely signaled destiny: Bhīma’s might is not merely physical but a foretold quality, suggesting that great capacities carry a larger role within the moral and narrative order (dharma) of the epic.
The narrator reports a heavenly proclamation at Bhīma’s birth, declaring him the foremost among the strong, and introduces that an astonishing event occurred immediately upon his being born.