Shloka 2
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 65 — Duḥśāsana’s Elephant Corps Engages Arjuna; Retreat to the Śakaṭa-vyūha
तस्य भार्यासहसत्राणां शतमासीन्महात्मन: । एकैकस्यां च भारयायां सहस्रं तनया5भवन्,महामना शशबिन्दुके एक लाख स्त्रियाँ थीं और प्रत्येक स्त्रीके गर्भसे एक-एक हजार पुत्र उत्पन्न हुए थे
tasya bhāryāsahasrāṇāṃ śatam āsīn mahātmanaḥ | ekaikasyāṃ ca bhāryāyāṃ sahasraṃ tanayā abhavan | mahāmanā śaśabinduke
Nārada said: That great-souled king had a hundred thousand wives; and from each wife a thousand sons were born—such was the extraordinary fecundity and royal magnitude attributed to the high-minded Śaśabindu. The narration underscores the epic’s tendency to portray ancient kings through hyperbolic prosperity and lineage, where vast progeny signifies worldly power and the expansion of dynastic responsibility (dharma) rather than personal virtue alone.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses epic hyperbole to depict royal prosperity and dynastic expansion: immense progeny symbolizes worldly power and the widening scope of a ruler’s obligations (dharma) toward lineage, governance, and social order.
Nārada describes the legendary king Śaśabindu, stating that he had one hundred thousand wives and that each wife bore a thousand sons, emphasizing the king’s extraordinary dynastic magnitude.