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 |
वैशम्पायन बोले— दुर्मर्षण का भवन दुःशासन के घर से भी अधिक सुन्दर था। मणि और स्वर्ण से विभूषित वह कुबेर के राजभवन के समान दीप्तिमान था।
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.