Text 25
bhagavāṁs tatra nivasan
svānāṁ priya-cikīrṣayā
agnaye khāṇḍavaṁ dātum
arjunasyāsa sārathiḥ
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.
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.
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.