Devanagari
सङ्ख्यानं यादवानां क: करिष्यति महात्मनाम् ।
यत्रायुतानामयुतलक्षेणास्ते स आहुक: ॥ ४२ ॥
Verse text
saṅkhyānaṁ yādavānāṁ kaḥ
kariṣyati mahātmanām
yatrāyutānām ayuta-
lakṣeṇāste sa āhukaḥ
Synonyms
saṅkhyānam
—
the counting
;
yādavānām
—
of the Yādavas
;
kaḥ
—
who
;
kariṣyati
—
can do
;
mahā
—
ātmanām — of the great personalities
;
yatra
—
among whom
;
ayutānām
—
of tens of thousands
;
ayuta
—
(times) ten thousand
;
lakṣeṇa
—
with (three) hundred thousand (persons)
;
āste
—
was present
;
saḥ
—
he
;
āhukaḥ
—
Ugrasena .
Translation
Who can count all the great Yādavas, when among them King Ugrasena alone was accompanied by an entourage of thirty trillion attendants?
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Who can count all the great Yādavas, when among them King Ugrasena alone was accompanied by an entourage of thirty trillion attendants?
KB 10.90.42
As for their military strength, it is said that King Ugrasena alone had ten quadrillion soldiers as personal bodyguards.
Purport
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī explains why specifically thirty trillion, rather than an indefinite number of tens of trillions, is stated here to be the number of King Ugrasena’s attendants. He does so by citing the interpretational rule of
kapiṣjalādhikaraṇa,
the logic of “referring to pigeons”: Somewhere in the
Vedas
is found the injunction that “one should sacrifice some pigeons.” This plural number should be taken to mean not an indiscriminate number of pigeons, but precisely three of them, since the
Vedas
never leave any matter vague. The rules of Mīmāṁsā interpretation take three as the default number when no specific number is given.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Ayutanam ayuta laksena means 3x 10,000 (ayuta) x 10,000 (ayuta) x 100,000 (laksa), or 30,000,000,000,000, or three sankhas. The description is in the present tense to express Sukadeva’s realization of the eternal nature of the pastimes.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
How can one count them all? One cannot count even the servants. Who can count the chief of the Yādavas? Among them Ugrasena had thirty trillion attendants. Instead of sa āhukaḥ sometimes sadāhukaḥ is seen. The present tense indicates the eternal pastimes. This will be established later.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
How can one count them all? One cannot count even the servants. Who can count the chief of the Yādavas? Because they were all devotees of the Lord, fully dedicated in their hearts, something will be said. Among them Ugrasena (āhukaḥ) had ten trillion attendants, or more.