Shloka 56
अध्याय १९० — वामदेव-वाम्य-वृत्तान्तः
The Vāmadeva Horses Episode and the Ethics of Promise
दृष्टवेमं वृष्णिप्रवरं स्मृतिमामियमागता । आदिदेवमयं जिष्णुं पुरुषं पीतवाससम्,इन आदिदेवस्वरूप, विजयशील, पीताम्बरधारी पुरुष वृष्णिकुल-भूषण श्रीकृष्णको देखकर मुझे इस पुरातन घटनाकी स्मृति हो आयी है
dṛṣṭvemam vṛṣṇipravaraṃ smṛtimām iyam āgatā | ādidevamayaṃ jiṣṇuṃ puruṣaṃ pītavāsasam ||
Markandeya said: “On seeing this foremost scion of the Vṛṣṇis—this invincible Person, clad in yellow garments, whose very form is that of the Primeval God—there has come upon me the recollection of an ancient event.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how the sight of a truly divine and virtuous figure awakens sacred memory: recognition of Kṛṣṇa as the primordial divine Person prompts recollection of an ancient moral-spiritual episode, suggesting that remembrance (smṛti) is stirred by contact with dharmic and divine presence.
Mārkaṇḍeya, upon seeing Kṛṣṇa—praised as the foremost Vṛṣṇi, victorious, and clad in yellow—states that this vision has triggered his memory of an old घटना (ancient event), preparing the listener for a retrospective tale or teaching connected with Kṛṣṇa’s divine nature.