Shloka 53
श्रीकृष्णने कहा--अर्जुन! खाण्डव वनमें जब तुम हाथमें धनुष लेकर अग्निदेवको तृप्त कर रहे थे, उस समय यही सर्प अपनी माताके मुँहमें घुसकर अपने शरीरको सुरक्षित करके आकाशमें उड़ा जा रहा था। तुमने उसे एक ही सर्प समझकर केवल इसकी माताका वध किया था ।।
śrīkṛṣṇa uvāca—arjuna! khāṇḍava-vane yadā tvaṁ dhanuḥ-pāṇir agnidevaṁ tṛptim ānayan, tadā eṣa eva sarpaḥ svam ātmānaṁ mātur mukhe praviśya śarīraṁ saṁrakṣya nabhasi utpatya gacchan dṛśyate sma. tvayā tu enam ekaṁ sarpam iti matvā kevalaṁ asya mātā hataiva. sa eṣa tad-vairam anusmaran vai tvāṁ prārthayaty ātma-vadhāya nūnam; nabhaś-cyutāṁ prajvalitām iva ulkāṁ paśyainam āyāntam, amitra-sāha.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: “Arjuna, when in the Khāṇḍava forest you stood with bow in hand, satisfying Agni by burning the woods, this very serpent saved himself by slipping into his mother’s mouth, shielding his body, and then flying up into the sky. You, taking them to be only a single serpent, killed only his mother. Remembering that enmity, he now seeks you out, surely intent on your death. Look—he comes rushing like a blazing meteor fallen from the heavens, O subduer of foes.”
कृष्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Past actions can generate enduring consequences: even an unintended killing (here, the serpent’s mother during the Khāṇḍava burning) may ripen into later hostility. Kṛṣṇa’s counsel highlights vigilance and moral awareness in war—recognizing that conflict is not only physical but also shaped by remembered grievances and karmic residues.
Kṛṣṇa identifies an approaching serpent as the same one who escaped during the Khāṇḍava forest conflagration by hiding in his mother’s mouth. Arjuna had killed the mother, and the serpent now returns, driven by that remembered enmity, rushing toward Arjuna like a blazing meteor.