Shloka 52

Devanagari script

कृष्ण उवाच योडसौ त्वया खाण्डवे चित्रभानु संतर्पयाणेन धनुर्धरेण । वियद्गतो जननीगुप्तदेहो मत्वैकरूपं निहतास्य माता

Transliteration

kṛṣṇa uvāca yo 'sau tvayā khāṇḍave citrabhānuḥ saṃtarpayānena dhanurdhareṇa | viyadgato jananīguptadeho matvaikarūpaṃ nihatāsya mātā ||

Translation

Krishna sprach: „Es ist eben jener Citrabhānu (Agni), den du, o Bogenschütze, einst im Khāṇḍava-Wald zufriedenstelltest, als du ihn mit deinen Pfeilen speistest. Später stieg er in den Himmel empor, sein Leib von seiner Mutter verhüllt. Da sie ihn für ein und dieselbe Gestalt hielt, wurde seine Mutter erschlagen.“

Word by Word

कृष्णःKrishna

उवाचsaid

यःwho

असौthat (person)

त्वयाby you

खाण्डवेin (the) Khāṇḍava (forest)

चित्रभानुम्Chitrabhānu (Agni)

संतर्पयाणेनby (one) satisfying / feeding

धनुर्धरेणby the bow-bearer (archer)

वियत्-गतःgone into the sky

जननी-गुप्त-देहःwhose body was hidden/protected by his mother

मत्वाhaving thought/considered

एक-रूपम्as one form / identical

निहतslain

अस्यof him

माताmother

Speaker

कृष्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

Krishna

Citrabhānu (Agni)

Khāṇḍava forest

the archer (implied: Arjuna)

mother of Citrabhānu (unnamed)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Actions, even when done with a clear purpose (such as aiding a divine being), can set in motion consequences that later unfold through misunderstanding and misidentification; the verse highlights how error in recognition can lead to tragic harm.

What is happening in the narrative?

Krishna recalls an earlier episode: the Fire-god (Citrabhānu/Agni), once fed in the Khāṇḍava forest by the archer’s action, later ascends to the sky with his body hidden by his mother; due to mistaking him as a single, identifiable form, his mother ends up being killed.