Srimad Bhagavatam — Dashama Skandha, Shloka 18
The Syamantaka Jewel: Accusation, Recovery, and Kṛṣṇa’s Marriage to Satyabhāmā
हतं प्रसेनं अश्वं च वीक्ष्य केशरिणा वने । तं चाद्रिपृष्ठे निहतमृक्षेण ददृशुर्जना: ॥ १८ ॥
hataṁ prasenaṁ aśvaṁ ca vīkṣya keśariṇā vane taṁ cādri-pṛṣṭhe nihatam ṛkṣeṇa dadṛśur janāḥ
In the forest they found Prasena and his horse, both slain by a lion. Farther on, upon a mountainside, they saw the lion itself dead, killed by Ṛkṣa (Jāmbavān).
FAQs
This verse states that Prasena and his horse were killed in the forest by a lion, and that lion was later found killed on a mountain ridge by a bear (Jambavan), setting the chain of events that led to the Syamantaka jewel changing hands.
The verse implies a bear killed the lion; in this chapter’s narrative that bear is Jambavan, whose possession of the jewel becomes the key reason Krishna later enters the cave and confronts him to recover it.
It highlights how conclusions based on partial evidence can be misleading; careful investigation and commitment to truth are essential before blaming others—an ethic Krishna exemplifies in this episode.