Shloka 17
कामीकवन-समागमः
Kāmyaka Forest Meeting: Kṛṣṇa’s Visit; Mārkaṇḍeya and Nārada Arrive
नासि केवलसर्पेण तिर्यग्योनिषु वर्तता गृहीत: कौरवश्रेष्ठ वरदानमिदं मम
nāsi kevalasarpeṇa tiryagyoniṣu vartatā gṛhītaḥ kauravaśreṣṭha varadānam idaṃ mama
കൗരവശ്രേഷ്ഠാ! നീ തിർയ്യഗ്യോനികളിൽ വസിക്കുന്ന ഒരു സാധാരണ സർപ്പത്താൽ പിടിക്കപ്പെട്ടതല്ല. ഇത് എനിക്ക് ലഭിച്ച വരമാണ്.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Do not judge events only by outward appearances: what seems like a random misfortune (being seized by a serpent) may be shaped by higher agency and moral causality (karma), and can even function as a divinely or supernaturally granted boon.
The narrator Vaiśampāyana addresses a Kaurava as ‘best of the Kauravas’ and clarifies that the capture by a serpent was not the act of a mere animal; it is connected to a deliberate, boon-like intervention attributed to the speaker.