Shloka 10
Śānti-parva Adhyāya 44 — Post-War Reassignment of Residences and Restorative Consolation (शान्तिपर्व अध्याय ४४)
दुर्मर्षणस्य भवन दुःशासनगृहाद् वरम् । कुबेरभवनप्रख्यं मणिहेमविभूषितम्
vaiśampāyana uvāca | durmarṣaṇasya bhavanaṃ duḥśāsana-gṛhād varam | kubera-bhavana-prakhyaṃ maṇi-hema-vibhūṣitam |
Vaiśampāyana said: The mansion of Durmarṣaṇa was finer even than the house of Duḥśāsana. Adorned with jewels and gold, it shone like Kubera’s own palace—an image of opulence that shows how the Kauravas’ worldly splendor could dwell beside moral decline.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the contrast between external grandeur and inner virtue: immense wealth and dazzling residences do not guarantee righteousness. In the Mahābhārata’s ethical frame, such splendor can even intensify pride and attachment, becoming a backdrop against which adharma is more starkly revealed.
Vaiśampāyana describes the Kaurava princes’ residences, noting that Durmarṣaṇa’s mansion surpassed even Duḥśāsana’s and resembled Kubera’s palace due to its gold-and-jewel ornamentation. It functions as a vivid scene-setting detail within the broader Shānti Parva discourse-world.