Shloka 52

Devanagari script

कृष्ण उवाच योडसौ त्वया खाण्डवे चित्रभानु संतर्पयाणेन धनुर्धरेण । वियद्गतो जननीगुप्तदेहो मत्वैकरूपं निहतास्य माता

Transliteration

kṛṣṇa uvāca yo 'sau tvayā khāṇḍave citrabhānuḥ saṃtarpayānena dhanurdhareṇa | viyadgato jananīguptadeho matvaikarūpaṃ nihatāsya mātā ||

Translation

クリシュナは言った。「それは、かつて汝が弓取りとしてカーンダヴァの森で矢をもって饗し、満足させたチトラバーヌ（火神アグニ）その者だ。のちに彼は天へ昇り、その身は母によって秘されていた。母は彼を同一の姿と思い込み、そのために討たれたのだ。」

Word by Word

कृष्णःKrishna

उवाचsaid

यःwho

असौthat (person)

त्वयाby you

खाण्डवेin (the) Khāṇḍava (forest)

चित्रभानुम्Chitrabhānu (Agni)

संतर्पयाणेनby (one) satisfying / feeding

धनुर्धरेणby the bow-bearer (archer)

वियत्-गतःgone into the sky

जननी-गुप्त-देहःwhose body was hidden/protected by his mother

मत्वाhaving thought/considered

एक-रूपम्as one form / identical

निहतslain

अस्यof him

माताmother

Speaker

कृष्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

Krishna

Citrabhānu (Agni)

Khāṇḍava forest

the archer (implied: Arjuna)

mother of Citrabhānu (unnamed)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

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.

What is happening in the narrative?

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.