MAHABHARAT: Reborn as a younger brother of Krishna with a system

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The fire cracked softly beneath the canopy of stars.

The caravan rested on the outskirts of the Yamuna. Hastinapur waited at sunrise.

The Pandavas sat in a quiet half-circle, speaking in low tones. Draupadi leaned against a tree, eyes closed but listening. Vaidehi sat beside the fire, close to Krishna, watching flames flick upward.

Across the trees, Agasthya had gone to fetch fruit and wood, disappearing into the darkness without a sound.

The wind shifted.

The fire stirred.

And Krishna spoke.

Not joking.

Not smiling.

Just… honest.

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Vaidehi glanced at him.

"You're Krishna," she said. "Why does he protect you?"

Her voice was low.

But the clearing hushed.

Arjuna's head turned slightly.

Yudhishthira paused his chant.

Even Bheema leaned in.

Krishna smiled faintly—but his eyes were unreadable.

"I'm not the one who needs guarding," he said.

Everyone waited.

"He protects me," Krishna continued, "not because I'm vulnerable. But because he knows what would happen if I ever… stopped smiling."

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Silence fell heavy.

Krishna looked into the fire.

"I carry light. Laughter. Dharma. And war. All at once. But there is one man—just one—who watches not the world, but me."

"Agasthya doesn't need to raise his hand. The idea of it… is enough."

He looked up, voice soft.

"If ever we four—Agasthya, Balarama, Karna, and I—stood in one army… no kingdom would stand."

The flames crackled.

Even the wind stilled.

Yudhishthira whispered, "That is not a team. That is a judgment."

Arjuna said nothing.

But his fingers curled around his knee.

Draupadi, eyes half-lidded, breathed slowly—not in awe, but in recognition.

Vaidehi?

She stared at the fire, heart beating too fast.

> He guards Krishna.

> He guards gods.

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Then—

Agasthya returned.

A sling of fruit over his shoulder. Firewood across his back.

He stepped into the light, silent as ever.

He set the mangoes down.

And looked at no one.

But every eye watched him now—

As if the night had just told them what he truly was.

And Agasthya?

He met Krishna's gaze once.

And for a heartbeat—

Krishna's smile widened, like a god grateful to be seen.

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By morning, the gates of Hastinapur loomed.

And as the Pandavas rode forward…

The guards whispered to one another:

> "The man beside Krishna—who is he?"

> "They say he silenced kings with a sentence."

> "They say even the gods step aside."

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