Shloka 11
Gāndhārī’s Petition for a Vision of the Departed (गान्धार्याः प्रार्थना—दिव्यदर्शनप्रसङ्गः)
वृथा संतर्पितो वह्निः खाण्डवे सव्यसाचिना । उपकारमजानन् स कृतघ्न इति मे मति:,सव्यसाची अर्जुनने जो खाण्डववनमें अग्निदेवको तृप्त किया था, वह व्यर्थ हो गया। वे उस उपकारको याद न रखनेके कारण कृतष्न हैं--ऐसी मेरी धारणा है
vṛthā santarpito vahniḥ khāṇḍave savyasācinā | upakāram ajānan sa kṛtaghna iti me matiḥ ||
वृथा संतर्पितो वह्निः खाण्डवे सव्यसाचिना । उपकारमजानन् स कृतघ्न इति मे मतिः ॥
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse condemns kṛtaghnatā—failing to recognize or repay a benefit received. Yudhiṣṭhira frames gratitude as an ethical duty: a past act of help becomes ‘in vain’ if the recipient does not remember and respond appropriately.
Yudhiṣṭhira recalls the famous Khāṇḍava episode where Arjuna aided Agni in consuming the forest. He now laments that Agni (or the one being judged) is not acknowledging that earlier assistance, and therefore calls him ‘ungrateful’ according to his own moral assessment.