Shloka 12
आदि पर्व — जातुगृह-प्रसङ्गः: विदुरप्रेषित-खनकस्य सूचना तथा पलायन-मार्ग-निर्माणम्
Adi Parva 135: The Miner’s Warning and Construction of the Escape Passage
एषो<अस्त्रविदुषां श्रेष्ठ एब धर्मभूृतां वर: । एष शीलवतां चापि शीलज्ञाननिधि: पर:
eṣo 'straviduṣāṃ śreṣṭha eṣa dharmabhṛtāṃ varaḥ | eṣa śīlavatāṃ cāpi śīlajñānanidhiḥ paraḥ ||
ผู้นี้เป็นยอดแห่งผู้รู้ศัสตราวุธ ผู้นี้เป็นเลิศในหมู่ผู้ทรงธรรม และแม้ในหมู่ผู้มีความประพฤติดีก็ยังสูงสุด—เป็นคลังอันประเสริฐแห่งศีลและปัญญา॥
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
True excellence is presented as multidimensional: mastery of arms is praised, but it is explicitly paired with dharma (moral responsibility) and śīla (good conduct). The ideal person is not merely powerful, but a repository of wisdom and character.
Vaiśampāyana is describing and extolling a particular individual (not named in this verse) by listing superlative qualities—martial expertise, steadfastness in dharma, and exemplary conduct—framing him as an ethical ideal within the story.