Five Queens Married by Krṣṇa
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you if you pray to Lord Viṣṇu to become pleased with me.” The girl Yamunā knew it well that Arjuna was a great devotee of Lord Krṣṇa and that if he would pray, Krṣṇa would never deny his request. To approach Krṣṇa directly may sometimes be futile, but to approach Krṣṇa through His devotee is sure to be successful. She further told Arjuna, “My name is Kālindī, and I live within the water of the Yamunā. My father was kind enough to construct a special house for me within the waters of the Yamunā, and I have vowed to remain in the water as long as I cannot find Lord Krṣṇa.” The message of the girl Kālindī was duly carried to Krṣṇa by Arjuna although Krṣṇa, as the Supersoul of everyone’s heart, knew everything. Without further discussion, Krṣṇa immediately accepted Kālindī and asked her to sit down on the chariot. Then all of them approached King Yudhiṣṭhira.
After this, Krṣṇa was asked by King Yudhiṣṭhira to help in constructing a suitable house to be planned by the great architect Viśvakarmā, the celestial engineer in the heavenly kingdom. Krṣṇa immediately called for Viśvakarmā, and He made him construct a wonderful city according to the desire of King Yudhiṣṭhira. When this city was constructed, Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira requested Krṣṇa to live with them a few days more in order to give them the pleasure of His association. Lord Krṣṇa accepted the request of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira and remained there for many days more.
In the meantime, Krṣṇa engaged in the pastime of offering Khāṇḍava Forest, which belonged to King Indra. Krṣṇa wanted to give it to Agni, the fire-god. Khāṇḍava Forest contained many varieties of drugs, and Agni required to eat them for rejuvenation. Agni, however, did not touch Khāṇḍava Forest directly, but requested Krṣṇa to help him. Agni knew that Krṣṇa was very much pleased with him because he had formerly given Him the Sudarśana disc. So in order to satisfy Agni, Krṣṇa became the chariot driver of Arjuna, and both went to the Khāṇḍava Forest. After Agni had eaten up the Khāṇḍava Forest, he was very much pleased. This time, he offered a specific bow known as Gāṇḍīva, four white horses, one chariot, and an invincible quiver with two specific arrows considered to be talismans, which had so much power that no warrior could counteract them. When the Khāṇḍava Forest was being devoured by the fire-god, Agni, there was a demon of the name Maya who was saved by Arjuna from the devastating fire. For this reason, that former demon became a great friend of Arjuna, and in order to please Arjuna he constructed a nice assembly house within the city constructed by Viśvakarmā. This assembly house had some corners so puzzling that when Duryodhana came to visit this house he was misdirected, accepting water as land and land as water.