SB 9.20.28 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

मृगाञ्छुक्लदत: कृष्णान् हिरण्येन परीवृतान् । अदात् कर्मणि मष्णारे नियुतानि चतुर्दश ॥ २८ ॥

Verse text

mṛgāṣ chukla-dataḥ kṛṣṇān hiraṇyena parīvṛtān adāt karmaṇi maṣṇāre niyutāni caturdaśa

Synonyms

mṛgān — first-class elephants ; śukla — dataḥ — with very white tusks ; kṛṣṇān — with black bodies ; hiraṇyena — with gold ornaments ; parīvṛtān — completely covered ; adāt — give in charity ; karmaṇi — in the sacrifice ; maṣṇāre — by the name Maṣṇāra, or in the place known as Maṣṇāra ; niyutāni — lakhs (one lakh equals one hundred thousand) ; caturdaśa — fourteen .

Translation

When Mahārāja Bharata performed the sacrifice known as Maṣṇāra [or a sacrifice in the place known as Maṣṇāra], he gave in charity fourteen lakhs of excellent elephants with white tusks and black bodies, completely covered with golden ornaments.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

When Mahārāja Bharata performed the sacrifice known as Maṣṇāra (or a sacrifice in the place known as Maṣṇāra), he gave in charity 1,400,000 excellent elephants with white tusks and black bodies, completely covered with golden ornaments. Mṛgān means the best elephants. Bhadra, mantra, and mṛga are species of elephants. Maṣnāra refers a holy place or a particular ritual according to some. Śruti says: hiraṇyena parivṛtān kṛṣṇān śukla-dato mṛgān maṣṇāre bharato ’ddācchataṁ baddhāni sapta ca Bharata gave a hundred and seven baddhas of black elephants with white tusks, covered with gold at Maṣnāra. Ṛg Veda, Aitareya Brāhmaṇa 8.23.3 107 baddhas is 1,400,000 which is what Śukadeva says. Dividing 1,400,00 by 107 one gets 13,084 (approximately).