Devanagari
श्रीशुक उवाच
दुर्योधनसुतां राजन् लक्ष्मणां समितिंजय: ।
स्वयंवरस्थामहरत् साम्बो जाम्बवतीसुत: ॥ १ ॥
Verse text
śrī-śuka uvāca
duryodhana-sutāṁ rājan
lakṣmaṇāṁ samitiṁ-jayaḥ
svayaṁvara-sthām aharat
sāmbo jāmbavatī-sutaḥ
Synonyms
śrī
—
śukaḥ uvāca — Śukadeva Gosvāmī said
;
duryodhana
—
sutām — the daughter of Duryodhana
;
rājan
—
O King (Parīkṣit)
;
lakṣmaṇām
—
named Lakṣmaṇā
;
samitim
—
jayaḥ — victorious in battle
;
svayaṁvara
—
in her svayaṁvara ceremony
;
sthām
—
situated
;
aharat
—
stole
;
sāmbaḥ
—
Sāmba
;
jāmbavatī
—
sutaḥ — the son of Jāmbavatī .
Translation
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: O King, Jāmbavatī’s son Sāmba, ever victorious in battle, kidnapped Duryodhana’s daughter Lakṣmaṇā from her svayaṁvara ceremony.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: O King, Jāmbavatī's son Sāmba, ever victorious in battle, kidnapped Duryodhana's daughter Lakṣmaṇā from her svayaṁ-vara ceremony.
KB 10.68.1
Duryodhana, the son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, had a marriageable daughter by the name of Lakṣmaṇā. She was a very highly qualified girl of the Kuru dynasty, and many princes wanted to marry her. In such cases, the svayaṁvara ceremony is held so that the girl may select her husband according to her own choice. In Lakṣmaṇā’s svayaṁvara assembly, when the girl was to select her husband, Sāmba appeared. He was a son of Kṛṣṇa’s by Jāmbavatī, one of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s chief wives. This son Sāmba was so named because he was a pet child and always lived close to his mother. The name Sāmba indicates a son who is very much his mother’s pet. Ambā means “mother,” and sa means “with.” So this special name was given to him because he always remained with his mother. He was also known as Jāmbavatī-suta for the same reason. As previously explained, all the sons of Kṛṣṇa were as qualified as their great father. Sāmba wanted Duryodhana’s daughter, Lakṣmaṇā, although she was not inclined to have him. Therefore Sāmba kidnapped Lakṣmaṇā by force from the svayaṁvara assembly.
Purport
In
Kṛṣṇa,
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains this event as follows: “Duryodhana, the son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, had a marriageable daughter by the name of Lakṣmaṇā. She was a very highly qualified girl of the Kuru dynasty, and many princes wanted to marry her. In such cases the
svayaṁvara
ceremony is held so that the girl may select her husband according to her own choice. In Lakṣmaṇā’s
svayaṁvara
assembly, when the girl was to select her husband, Sāmba appeared. He was the son of Kṛṣṇa by Jāmbavatī, one of the chief wives of Lord Kṛṣṇa. This son Sāmba is so named because, being a very bad child, he always lived close to his mother. The name Sāmba indicates that this son was very much his mother’s pet.
Ambā
means “mother,” and
sa
means “with.” So this special name was given to him because he always remained with his mother. He was also known as Jāmbavatī-suta for the same reason. As previously explained, all the sons of Kṛṣṇa were as qualified as their great father, Lord Kṛṣṇa. Sāmba wanted the daughter of Duryodhana, Lakṣmaṇā, although she was not inclined to have him. Therefore Sāmba kidnapped Lakṣmaṇā by force from the
svayaṁvara
ceremony.”
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
In this sixty eighth chapter, when the kurus capture Samba, Balarama, angered by their harsh words, drags the city of Hastinapura.
Samba, victorious in battle (samitinjayah), took away Laksmana, daughter of Duryodhana.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Hari-vaṁśa says:
hṛto yadaiva pradyumnaḥ śambareṇātma-ghātinā /
tam eva māsaṁ sāmbas tu jāmbavatyām ajāyata //
When Pradyumna was taken by the abductor Śambara, Sāmba was born to Jāmbavatī.
Since Pradyumna and Sāmba were thus of almost the same age, the incident told now actually happened previously. The story is now mentioned in relation to Balarāma’s prowess. According to previous comments, the birth of Pradyumna and the marriage of Kṛṣṇa with Jāmbavatī are narrated in Bhāgavatam in reverse order. Thus the order presented in the text is only the order in which Parīkṣit heard the events. Because Jāmbavatī was dear to Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa was very affectionate to her son Sāmba. She prayed for a son as beautiful as Pradyumna. When Kṛṣṇa performed austerities to glorify his great devotee Śiva, Sāmba was born. He was called Sāmba because he always stayed with his mother out of affection for her according to Dāna-dharma (Mahābhārata). His name is therefore Sāmba (with his mother) not Śāmba.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
Hari-vaṁśa says:
hṛto yadaiva pradyumnaḥ śambareṇātma-ghātinā /
tam eva māsaṁ sāmbas tu jāmbavatyām ajāyata //
When Pradyumna was taken by the abductor Śambara, Sāmba was born to Jāmbavatī.
Since Pradyumna and Sāmba were thus of almost the same age, the incident concerning Sāmba’s marriage told now actually happened previously. The story is now mentioned in relation to Balarāma’s prowess. Sāmba was a great warrior (samitiñjayaḥ). Thus he took Duryodhana’s daughter. Or at the svayaṁvara he defeated all the gathered kings in battle (samitiñjayaḥ). O king, this is the dharma of kṣatriyas. Or Sāmba, radiant with courage, because he was the son of Jāmbavatī, took Lakṣmaṇā. She prayed for a son as beautiful as Pradyumna. When Kṛṣṇa performed austerities to glorify his great devotee Śiva, Sāmba was born. He was called Sāmba because he always stayed with his mother out of affection for her according to Dāna-dharma (Mahābhārata). His name is therefore Sāmba (with his mother) not Śāmba.