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 |
Disse Vaiśampāyana: A mansão de Durmarṣaṇa era mais bela até do que a casa de Duḥśāsana. Adornada com joias e ouro, resplandecia como o próprio palácio de Kubera—imagem de opulência que evidencia como o esplendor mundano dos Kaurava podia coexistir com a decadência moral.
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.