Shloka 48
Kṛṣṇa’s Departure, Auspicious Omens, and the Opening of the Uttaṅka Dialogue (कृष्णप्रयाण-निमित्त-उत्तङ्कसंवाद-प्रारम्भः)
आनर्तानवलोक्य त्वं पितरं च महाभुज । वृष्णींश्ष॒ पुनरागच्छेहयमेधे ममानघ,महाबाहु निष्पाप श्रीकृष्ण! आनर्त देशकी प्रजा, अपने माता-पिता तथा वृष्णिवंशी बन्धु-बान्धवोंसे मिलकर पुनः मेरे अश्वमेध यज्ञमें पधारियेगा
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | ānartān avalokya tvaṃ pitaraṃ ca mahābhuja | vṛṣṇīṃś ca punar āgaccheha aśvamedhe mamānagha || mahābāhu niṣpāpa śrīkṛṣṇa! ānarta-deśakī prajāḥ, sva-mātā-pitarau tathā vṛṣṇivaṃśī bāndhavān saṃmilitvā punar mama aśvamedha-yajñe upāgaccha ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “O mighty-armed one, after you have visited the people of Ānarta, and seen your parents and the Vṛṣṇis, return here again, O sinless one, to my Aśvamedha sacrifice. O strong-armed, faultless Śrī Kṛṣṇa—having met the subjects of the Ānarta land, your mother and father, and your kinsmen of the Vṛṣṇi line, come back once more to my Aśvamedha rite.”
युधिषछ्िर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharmic kingship expressed through gratitude and proper conduct: Yudhiṣṭhira honors Kṛṣṇa’s familial and civic duties (meeting his people and kin) while also requesting his presence to complete a major royal rite, showing balance between personal obligations and public responsibility.
After the war, Yudhiṣṭhira is conducting the Aśvamedha to re-establish sovereignty and order. He asks Kṛṣṇa to visit Ānarta (Dvārakā region), see his parents and the Vṛṣṇis, and then return to attend and support the ongoing Aśvamedha sacrifice.