Shloka 107

Śoka-śamana: Kṛṣṇa’s Consolation and Nārada’s Exempla to Sṛñjaya

Chapter 29

Devanagari script

शतं कन्या राजपुत्रमेकैकं॑ पृथगन्वयु: । कन्यां कनन्‍्यां शतं नागा नागं॑ नागं शतं रथा:

Transliteration

śataṁ kanyā rājaputram ekaikaṁ pṛthag anvayuḥ | kanyāṁ kanyāṁ śataṁ nāgā nāgaṁ nāgaṁ śataṁ rathāḥ |

Translation

风神伐由说道：“百名少女分别嫁与各位王子。每一名少女随嫁百头大象；每一头大象之后，又随有百乘战车。”此偈强调王家财富之浩大，以及以奢华婚礼赠礼衡量身份的世俗风尚，暗示繁荣与权势如何层层相乘，化作无边的物质铺陈。

Word by Word

• शतम्: a hundred
• शतम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: शत
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

• कन्याः: maidens, daughters
• कन्याः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कन्या
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• राजपुत्रम्: a prince (king's son)
• राजपुत्रम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजपुत्र
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• एकैकम्: each one (one by one)
• एकैकम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एकैक
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• पृथक्: separately, individually
• पृथक्: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पृथक्

• अन्वयुः: followed, went after (i.e., were given/assigned to)
• अन्वयुः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: अनु-या
• Form: Aorist (Luṅ), 3rd, Plural, Parasmaipada

• कन्याम्: a maiden (bride)
• कन्याम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कन्या
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• कन्याम्: each maiden (repeated distributively)
• कन्याम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कन्या
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• शतम्: a hundred
• शतम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: शत
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

• नागाः: elephants
• नागाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: नाग
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• नागम्: for each elephant / behind each elephant
• नागम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: नाग
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• नागम्: each elephant (repeated distributively)
• नागम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: नाग
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• शतम्: a hundred
• शतम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: शत
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

• रथाः: chariots
• रथाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: रथ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyu (Vāyudeva)
• princes (rājaputrāḥ)
• maidens/brides (kanyāḥ)
• elephants (nāgāḥ)
• chariots (rathāḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how royal society expresses prestige through immense material endowments—marriage alliances accompanied by escalating gifts (brides, elephants, chariots). In the ethical frame of Śānti Parva, such descriptions can serve as a contrast to inner restraint and the limits of worldly display.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyu narrates a scene of extraordinary royal arrangements: each prince receives a separate group of a hundred brides, each bride is accompanied by a hundred elephants, and each elephant is followed by a hundred chariots—depicting an immense procession of wealth and military resources.