Khandava

Khandava, also known as Khandavavana, is a legendary forest described in the Mahabharata. It is placed in the northern Indian subcontinent, in the region that would later be associated with Indraprastha, the city later established by the Pandavas’s line in the epic tradition. The forest is best known for a dramatic episode in which the fire god Agni begs for fuel to satisfy his consuming heat.

According to the narrative, Agni learns that the Khandava forest can provide abundant fuel and requests help to burn it. Arjuna, with Krishna serving as his charioteer, agrees to assist, and the two, with other aids and divine sanction, set the forest ablaze so Agni can feast. The fire consumes trees and inhabitants, and the episode includes encounters with various beings venturing to hinder or aid the burning. In some versions a serpent king named Takshaka is associated with the episode, though details vary across tellings.

The burning leaves the landscape desolate, and the redirected energy of the event is linked in the tradition to the later development of Indraprastha, the Pandavas’ capital. The episode is regarded as a pivotal moment that illustrates Krishna’s role as ally and guide to Arjuna, as well as the divine dimension of events leading into the larger arc of the Mahabharata. It also serves as a narrative device to explain the transformation of the land and the fortunes of the central characters.

In later retellings and scholarly discussions, the Khandava forest remains a key to understanding the early cosmology and geography of the Mahabharata, as well as the interplay between mortal and divine agency within the epic’s world.