Devanagari
भगवांस्तत्र निवसन् स्वानां प्रियचिकीर्षया ।
अग्नये खाण्डवं दातुमर्जुनस्यास सारथि: ॥ २५ ॥
Verse text
bhagavāṁs tatra nivasan
svānāṁ priya-cikīrṣayā
agnaye khāṇḍavaṁ dātum
arjunasyāsa sārathiḥ
Synonyms
bhagavān
—
the Supreme Lord
;
tatra
—
there
;
nivasan
—
residing
;
svānām
—
for His own (devotees)
;
priya
—
pleasure
;
cikīrṣayā
—
desiring to give
;
agnaye
—
to Agni, the demigod of fire
;
khāṇḍavam
—
the Khāṇḍava forest
;
dātum
—
in order to give
;
arjunasya
—
of Arjuna
;
āsa
—
He became
;
sārathiḥ
—
the chariot driver .
Translation
The Supreme Lord stayed in that city for some time to please His devotees. On one occasion, Śrī Kṛṣṇa wanted to give the Khāṇḍava forest as a gift to Agni, and so the Lord became Arjuna’s charioteer.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The Supreme Lord stayed in that city for some time to please His devotees. On one occasion, Śrī Kṛṣṇa wanted to give the Khāṇḍava forest as a gift to Agni, and so the Lord became Arjuna's charioteer.
KB 10.58.25
When this city was constructed, Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira requested Kṛṣṇa to live with them a few days more to give them the pleasure of His association. Lord Kṛṣṇa accepted the request of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira and remained there for many days more.
In the meantime, Kṛṣṇa engaged in the pastime of offering the Khāṇḍava forest, which belonged to King Indra. Kṛṣṇa wanted to give it to Agni, the fire-god. The Khāṇḍava forest contained many varieties of drugs, and Agni required to eat them for rejuvenation. Agni, however, did not touch the Khāṇḍava forest directly but requested Kṛṣṇa to help him. Agni knew that Kṛṣṇa was very much pleased with him because he had formerly given Him the Sudarśana disc. So in order to satisfy Agni, Kṛṣṇa became the chariot driver of Arjuna, and both went to the Khāṇḍava forest.
Purport
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains the sequence of events that occurred during Lord Kṛṣṇa’s stay with the Pāṇḍavas. He states that first the Khāṇḍava forest was burned, then Kālindī was found, then the city was constructed, and then the assembly hall was presented to the Pāṇḍavas.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Krsna became Arjuna's chariot driver so that Arjuna would get his weapons. Khandhava was a forest of Indra.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
The Lord stayed there a long time happily (ni—vāsan). He became Arjuna’s charioteer so Arjuna could gain his bow. This was a side effect of giving the forest to Agni.