यस्मिन्न् अहनि भीमस् तु जज्ञे भरतसत्तम ॥
दुर्योधनो ऽपि तत्रैव प्रजज्ञे वसुधाधिप ॥
जाते वृकोदरे पाण्डुर् इदं भूयो ऽन्वचिन्तयत् ॥
कथं नु मे वरः पुत्रो लोकश्रेष्ठो भवेद् इति ॥
दैवे पुरुषकारे च लोको ऽयं हि प्रतिष्ठितः ॥
तत्र दैवं तु विधिना कालयुक्तेन लभ्यते ॥
इन्द्रो हि राजा देवानां प्रधान इति नः श्रुतम् ॥
अप्रमेयबलोत्साहो वीर्यवान् अमितद्युतिः ॥
तं तोषयित्वा तपसा पुत्रं लप्स्ये महाबलम् ॥
यं दास्यति स मे पुत्रं स वरीयान् भविष्यति ॥
कर्मणा मनसा वाचा तस्मात् तप्स्ये महत् तपः ॥
yasminn ahani bhīmas tu jajñe bharatasattama ||
duryodhano 'pi tatraiva prajajñe vasudhādhipa ||
jāte vṛkodare pāṇḍur idaṃ bhūyo 'nvacintayat ||
kathaṃ nu me varaḥ putro lokaśreṣṭho bhaved iti ||
daive puruṣakāre ca loko 'yaṃ hi pratiṣṭhitaḥ ||
tatra daivaṃ tu vidhinā kālayuktena labhyate ||
indro hi rājā devānāṃ pradhāna iti naḥ śrutam ||
aprameyabalotsāho vīryavān amitadyutiḥ ||
taṃ toṣayitvā tapasā putraṃ lapsye mahābalam ||
yaṃ dāsyati sa me putraṃ sa varīyān bhaviṣyati ||
karmaṇā manasā vācā tasmāt tapsye mahat tapaḥ ||
"On the very day that Bhima was born, O best of the Bharatas, Duryodhana too was born, O lord of the earth. When Vrikodara was born, Pandu again pondered: 'How might I have a superior son, foremost in the world?' On fate and on human effort this world rests; of these, fate is obtained through proper action joined with time. 'Indra, indeed, is the king of the gods, the foremost, as we have heard, of immeasurable strength and vigor, valorous, of boundless splendor; having pleased him through austerity, I shall obtain a son of great strength; the son whom he grants will be the most excellent; therefore, in deed, in mind, and in word, I shall perform a great austerity.'"
da650dfad4a2 · published Jul 12, 2026, 4:41:49 PM UTC
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Here Pandu reflects on fate (daiva) and effort (purushakara) — the two pillars of the world. His reasoning is telling: the world is moved both by destiny and by human action, and even the favor of destiny is won through proper effort in its due time. Here is the true balance: neither blind fatalism nor arrogant self-reliance, but cooperation between man and the higher order — through effort a person opens himself to grace from above. It is telling that to conceive a supreme son, Pandu chooses Indra, king of the gods: as is the one invoked, so is the gift. Thus Pandu resolves upon a new austerity — and its fruit will be Arjuna, greatest of heroes, whose birth the whole universe will come to celebrate.