Shloka 52
कृष्ण उवाच योडसौ त्वया खाण्डवे चित्रभानु संतर्पयाणेन धनुर्धरेण । वियद्गतो जननीगुप्तदेहो मत्वैकरूपं निहतास्य माता
kṛṣṇa uvāca yo 'sau tvayā khāṇḍave citrabhānuḥ saṃtarpayānena dhanurdhareṇa | viyadgato jananīguptadeho matvaikarūpaṃ nihatāsya mātā ||
Krishna said: “That very Citrabhānu (Agni) whom you once satisfied in the Khāṇḍava forest—when you, the archer, fed him with your arrows—later rose into the sky, his body concealed by his mother. Believing him to be of one and the same form, his mother was slain.”
कृष्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
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.
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.