Shloka 17

कामीकवन-समागमः

Kāmyaka Forest Meeting: Kṛṣṇa’s Visit; Mārkaṇḍeya and Nārada Arrive

Devanagari script

नासि केवलसर्पेण तिर्यग्योनिषु वर्तता गृहीत: कौरवश्रेष्ठ वरदानमिदं मम

Transliteration

nāsi kevalasarpeṇa tiryagyoniṣu vartatā gṛhītaḥ kauravaśreṣṭha varadānam idaṃ mama

Translation

Vaiśampāyana berkata: “Wahai yang terbaik di antara kaum Kaurava, engkau tidak ditangkap oleh ular biasa yang hidup dalam kelahiran-kelahiran rendah. Ini ialah anugerah (vara) yang dikurniakan kepadaku.”

Word by Word

nanot

asiyou are

kevalaonly, merely

sarpeṇaby a snake

tiryag-yoniṣuin animal wombs/births (non-human species)

vartatāwhile existing/being (as one who lives)

gṛhītaḥseized, caught

kaurava-śreṣṭhaO best of the Kauravas

vara-dānama boon-gift (grant of a boon)

idamthis

mamaof me, my

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Kauravaśreṣṭha (addressed person)

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?

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.

What is happening in the narrative?

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.