636 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 1, Ch. 12

dhanvindm—of the great bowmen; agranit—the foreman; esah—this
child; tulyah—equally good; ca—and; arjunayoh—of the Arjunas; dvayoh—
of the two; hutasah—fire; iva—like; durdharsah—irresistible; samudrah—
ocean; iva—like; dustarah—unsurpassable.

TRANSLATION

Amongst great bowmen, this child will be as good as Arjuna. He will

be as irresistible as fire and as unsurpassable as the ocean.

PURPORT

In history there are two Arjunas. One is Karta Viryarjuna, the King of
Haihya, and the other is the grandfather of the child. Both the Arjunas are
famous for their bowmanship, and the child Pariksit is foretold to be equal
to both of them, particularly in fighting. A short description of the Pan-
dava Arjuna is given below:

Pandava Arjuna: The great hero of the Bhagavad-gitd. He is the ksetraja
son of Maharaja Pandu. Queen Kunti could call for any one of the demigods,
and thus she called Indra, and Arjuna is born by him. Arjunais therefore
a plenary part of the heavenly King Indra. He was born in the month of
Phalguna (Feb.-March), and therefore he is also called Phalguni. When he
appeared as the son of Kunti, his future greatness was proclaimed by air
messages, and all the important personalities from different parts of the
universe, such as the demigods, the Gandharvas, the Adityas (from the sun
globe) the Rudras, the Vasus, the Nagas and different rsis (sages) of
importance, and the Apsaras or the society girls of heaven, all attended the
ceremony. The Apsaras pleased everyone by their heavenly dances and
songs. Vasudeva, the father of Lord Krsna and the maternal uncle of
Arjuna, sent his priest representative Kasyapa to purify Arjuna by all the
prescribed samskaras or reformatory processes. His samskara of giving a
name was performed in the presence of the rsis, residents of Satasrnga.
He married four wives, Draupadi, Subhadra, Citrangada and Ulupi, from
whom he got four sons of the names Srutakirti, Abhimanyu, Babhruvahana,
and Iravan respectively.

During his student life he was entrusted to study under the great
professor Dronacarya, along with other Pandavas and the Kurus. But he
excelled everyone by his studious intensity, and Dronacarya was especially
attracted by his disciplinary affection. Dronacarya accepted him as a first-
