Shloka 53
श्रीकृष्णने कहा--अर्जुन! खाण्डव वनमें जब तुम हाथमें धनुष लेकर अग्निदेवको तृप्त कर रहे थे, उस समय यही सर्प अपनी माताके मुँहमें घुसकर अपने शरीरको सुरक्षित करके आकाशमें उड़ा जा रहा था। तुमने उसे एक ही सर्प समझकर केवल इसकी माताका वध किया था ।। स एष तद् वैरमनुस्मरन् वै त्वां प्रार्थयत्यात्मवधाय नूनम् । नभश्ष्युतां प्रज्वलितामिवोल्कां पश्यैनमायान्तममित्रसाह
śrīkṛṣṇa uvāca—arjuna! khāṇḍava-vane yadā tvaṁ dhanuḥ-pāṇir agnidevaṁ tṛptim ānayan, tadā eṣa eva sarpaḥ svam ātmānaṁ mātur mukhe praviśya śarīraṁ saṁrakṣya nabhasi utpatya gacchan dṛśyate sma. tvayā tu enam ekaṁ sarpam iti matvā kevalaṁ asya mātā hataiva. sa eṣa tad-vairam anusmaran vai tvāṁ prārthayaty ātma-vadhāya nūnam; nabhaś-cyutāṁ prajvalitām iva ulkāṁ paśyainam āyāntam, amitra-sāha.
Sinabi ni Śrī Kṛṣṇa: “Arjuna! Noong nasa gubat ng Khāṇḍava ka, hawak ang busog at pinasisiya si Agni sa pagsunog ng kagubatan, ang ahas na ito ring ito ang nagligtas sa sarili: sumuot siya sa bibig ng kanyang ina, ikinubli ang katawan, at saka lumipad paitaas sa langit. Inakala mong iisang ahas lamang sila kaya ang ina niya lamang ang napatay mo. Sa pag-alaala sa galit na iyon, hinahanap ka niya ngayon—tiyak na ang hangad ay ang iyong kamatayan. Masdan—sumusugod siya na parang naglalagablab na bulalakaw na nahulog mula sa langit, O manlulupig ng mga kaaway.”
कृष्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Past actions can generate enduring consequences: even an unintended killing (here, the serpent’s mother during the Khāṇḍava burning) may ripen into later hostility. Kṛṣṇa’s counsel highlights vigilance and moral awareness in war—recognizing that conflict is not only physical but also shaped by remembered grievances and karmic residues.
Kṛṣṇa identifies an approaching serpent as the same one who escaped during the Khāṇḍava forest conflagration by hiding in his mother’s mouth. Arjuna had killed the mother, and the serpent now returns, driven by that remembered enmity, rushing toward Arjuna like a blazing meteor.