SB 10.68.50-51 — FolioCorpus

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.68.50-51

दुर्योधन: पारिबर्हं कुञ्जरान् षष्टिहायनान् । ददौ च द्वादशशतान्ययुतानि तुरङ्गमान् ॥ ५० ॥ रथानां षट्‍सहस्राणि रौक्‍माणां सूर्यवर्चसाम् । दासीनां निष्ककण्ठीनां सहस्रं दुहितृवत्सल: ॥ ५१ ॥

duryodhanaḥ pāribarhaṁ

[duryodhanah paaribarham]

kuñjarān ṣaṣṭi-hāyanān

[kunjaraan shashti-haayanaan]

dadau ca dvādaśa-śatāny

[dadau cha dvaadasha-shataany]

ayutāni turaṅgamān

[ayutaani turangamaan]

rathānāṁ ṣaṭ-sahasrāṇi

[rathaanaam shat-sahasraani]

raukmāṇāṁ sūrya-varcasām

[raukmaanaam soorya-varchasaam]

dāsīnāṁ niṣka-kaṇṭhīnāṁ

[daaseenaam nishka-kantheenaam]

sahasraṁ duhitṛ-vatsalaḥ

[sahasram duhitri-vatsalah]

Word-for-word

duryodhanaḥ — Duryodhana pāribarham — as a dowry kuñjarān — elephants ṣaṣṭi — sixty hāyanān — years old dadau — gave ca — and dvādaśa — twelve śatāni — hundred ayutāni — tens of thousands turaṅgamān — horses rathānām — of chariots ṣaṭ - sahasrāṇi — six thousand raukmāṇām — golden sūrya — (like) the sun varcasām — whose effulgence dāsīnām — of maidservants niṣka — jeweled lockets kaṇṭthīnām — on whose throats sahasram — one thousand duhitṛ — for his daughter vatsalaḥ — having fatherly affection .

Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)

duryodhanaḥ pāribarhaṁ

duryodhanaḥ

Duryodhana

pāribarham

as a dowry

kuñjarān ṣaṣṭi-hāyanān

kuñjarān

elephants

ṣaṣṭi

sixty

hāyanān

years old

dadau ca dvādaśa-śatāny

dadau

gave

and

dvādaśa

twelve

śatāni

hundred

ayutāni turaṅgamān

ayutāni

tens of thousands

turaṅgamān

horses

rathānāṁ ṣaṭ-sahasrāṇi

rathānām

of chariots

ṣaṭ - sahasrāṇi

six thousand

raukmāṇām

golden

raukmāṇāṁ sūrya-varcasām

sūrya

(like) the sun

varcasām

whose effulgence

dāsīnāṁ niṣka-kaṇṭhīnāṁ

dāsīnām

of maidservants

niṣka

jeweled lockets

kaṇṭthīnām

on whose throats

sahasraṁ duhitṛ-vatsalaḥ

sahasram

one thousand

duhitṛ

for his daughter

vatsalaḥ

having fatherly affection .

Important Words

duryodhanaḥ — Duryodhana
The chief antagonist of the Mahābhārata. Here, briefly, we glimpse the human father beneath the king — affectionate to his daughter, willing to give lavishly. Bhāgavata never reduces a character to one note.
pāribarham — as dowry
Pāri-barha = the gift accompanying a bride. The chapter that began with Sāmba carrying off Lakṣmaṇā ends with her being given to him formally, with full kṣatriya ceremony. The 'theft' is regularized into marriage.
duhitṛ - vatsalaḥ — having fatherly affection (for his daughter)
Vatsala — the tender protective love a parent feels. Even Duryodhana has vatsalya. Vyāsa shows us this so the reader cannot dismiss him as a flat villain — his tragedy is the failure of a man capable of love.

Duryodhana, being very affectionate to his daughter, gave as her dowry 1,200 sixty-year-old elephants, 120,000 horses, 6,000 golden chariots shining like the sun, and 1,000 maidservants with jeweled lockets on their necks.

Gauḍīya Ācāryas

Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya

Translation

Commentary

He gave twelve hundred elephants and a hundred and twenty thousand horses.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya

Commentary

Duryodhana gave this wealth because of affection for his daughter. He thought, “If Balarāma and the people here are not pleased, my daughter will not be respected.”

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya

Commentary

The elephants were young. The chariot shone like the sun because gold and inlaid jewels. Duryodhana gave this wealth because of affection for his daughter. All this was to please Balarāma.

Related values & verses

Concepts

Jiva

Personal Guidance

Duryodhana, affectionate to his daughter, gave a vast dowry — elephants, horses, chariots, maids. Even those in conflict with the Lord can be tender with their own; love is universal even when narrow.

Reflection Questions

Where does my affection narrow to 'my own'? How could it broaden?
What surprising tenderness might be hidden in people I'm in conflict with?

Analogy

After the storm, the father of the bride opens his treasury — elephants, horses, chariots, jeweled maidservants — Duryodhana the proud now Duryodhana the tender father, his love for Lakṣmaṇā unfeigned beneath every other failing.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io