धार्मिकं तं सुतं लब्ध्वा पाण्डुस् तां पुनर् अब्रवीत् ॥
प्राहुः क्षत्रं बलज्येष्ठं बलज्येष्ठं सुतं वृणु ॥
ततस् तथोक्ता पत्या तु वायुम् एवाजुहाव सा ॥
तस्माज् जज्ञे महाबाहुर् भीमो भीमपराक्रमः ॥
तम् अप्य् अतिबलं जातं वाग् अभ्यवदद् अच्युतम् ॥
सर्वेषां बलिनां श्रेष्ठो जातो ऽयम् इति भारत ॥
इदम् अत्यद्भुतं चासीज् जातमात्रे वृकोदरे ॥
यद् अङ्कात् पतितो मातुः शिलां गात्रैर् अचूर्णयत् ॥
कुन्ती व्याघ्रभयोद्विग्ना सहसोत्पतिता किल ॥
नान्वबुध्यत संसुप्तम् उत्सङ्गे स्वे वृकोदरम् ॥
ततः स वज्रसंघातः कुमारो ऽभ्यपतद् गिरौ ॥
पतता तेन शतधा शिला गात्रैर् विचूर्णिता ॥
तां शिलां चूर्णितां दृष्ट्वा पाण्डुर् विस्मयम् आगमत् ॥
dhārmikaṃ taṃ sutaṃ labdhvā pāṇḍus tāṃ punar abravīt ||
prāhuḥ kṣatraṃ balajyeṣṭhaṃ balajyeṣṭhaṃ sutaṃ vṛṇu ||
tatas tathoktā patyā tu vāyum evājuhāva sā ||
tasmāj jajñe mahābāhur bhīmo bhīmaparākramaḥ ||
tam apy atibalaṃ jātaṃ vāg abhyavadad acyutam ||
sarveṣāṃ balināṃ śreṣṭho jāto 'yam iti bhārata ||
idam atyadbhutaṃ cāsīj jātamātre vṛkodare ||
yad aṅkāt patito mātuḥ śilāṃ gātrair acūrṇayat ||
kuntī vyāghrabhayodvignā sahasotpatitā kila ||
nānvabudhyata saṃsuptam utsaṅge sve vṛkodaram ||
tataḥ sa vajrasaṃghātaḥ kumāro 'bhyapatad girau ||
patatā tena śatadhā śilā gātrair vicūrṇitā ||
tāṃ śilāṃ cūrṇitāṃ dṛṣṭvā pāṇḍur vismayam āgamat ||
"Having obtained that righteous son, Pandu spoke to her again: 'They say that for a kshatriya, strength is paramount; choose a son in whom strength predominates.' Then, thus entreated by her husband, she called upon Vayu, and from him was born the mighty-armed Bhima, terrible in valor. And of him, born all-powerful, the imperishable voice proclaimed: 'The strongest of all the strong is born, this one', O Bharata. And this most wondrous thing happened the moment Vrikodara was born: falling from his mother's lap, he crushed a rock with his own body. Kunti, startled by fear of a tiger, suddenly leapt up, not noticing Vrikodara asleep in her lap; then that infant, hard as a mass of thunderbolts, fell upon the rock — and from his fall the rock was shattered into a hundred pieces; seeing it, Pandu was struck with wonder."
af7297cd05aa · published Jul 12, 2026, 4:41:49 PM UTC
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Here is born the second Pandava — Bhima, son of the wind-god Vayu, strength incarnate. It is telling that Pandu, having obtained a righteous firstborn, now desires a mighty son: a kshatriya king needs both righteousness and strength to protect dharma. Telling too is the miracle of infancy: falling upon a rock, Bhima shatters it while remaining unharmed himself — his bodily might is superhuman from birth. Bhima's strength is a gift from above, destined to serve dharma: with it he will crush the wicked Kauravas as he crushed the rock. Telling as well is the coincidence: on the very same day Duryodhana, chief of the Kauravas, was born; so from birth the fates of Bhima and Duryodhana are intertwined, for it is Duryodhana's destiny to fall precisely at Bhima's hand. Already here scripture binds the fearsome strength of the righteous to the doom of his future adversary.