|
Mahabharata Sabha Parva Chapter 50
Duryodhana said,—'Listen now, O Bharata, about all the most costly articles I saw, belonging unto the sons of Pandu, and brought one after another by the kings of the earth. Beholding that wealth of the foe, I lost my reason and scarcely knew myself. And, O Bharata, listen as I describe that wealth consisting of both manufactures and the produce of the land. The king of Kamboja gave innumerable skins of the best king, and blankets made of wool, of the soft fur of rodents and other burroughers, and of the hair of cats,—all inlaid with threads of gold. And he also gave three hundred horses of the Titteti and the Kalmasha species possessing noses like parrots. And he also gave three hundred camels and an equal number of she-asses, all fattened with the olives and the Pilusha. And innumerable Brahmanas engaged in rearing cattle and occupied in low offices for the gratification of the illustrious king Yudhishthira the just waited at the gate with three hundred millions of tribute but they were denied admission into the palace. And hundred upon hundreds of Brahmanas possessing wealth of kine and living upon the lands that Yudhishthira had given them, came there with their handsome golden Kamandalus filled with clarified butter. And though they had brought such tribute, they were refused admission into the palace. And the Sudra kings that dwelt in the regions on the seacoast, brought with them, O king, hundred thousands of serving girls of the Karpasika country, all of beautiful features and slender waist and luxuriant hair and decked in golden ornaments; and also many skins of the Ranku deer worthy even of Brahmanas as tribute unto king Yudhishthira. And the tribes Vairamas, Paradas, Tungas, with the Kitavas who lived upon crops that depended on water from the sky or of the river and also they who were born in regions on the sea-shore, in woodlands, or countries on the other side of the ocean waited at the gate, being refused permission to enter, with goats and kine and asses and camels and vegetable, honey and blankets and jewels and gems of various kinds. And that great warrior king Bhagadatta, the brave ruler of Pragjyotisha and the mighty sovereign of the mlechchas, at the head of a large number of Yavanas waited at the gate unable to enter, with a considerable tribute comprising of horses of the best breed and possessing the speed of the wind. And king Bhagadatta (beholding the concourse) had to go away from the gate, making over a number of swords with handles made of the purest ivory and well-adorned with diamonds and every kind of gems. And many tribes coming from different regions, of whom some possess two eyes, some three and some had eyes on their foreheads, and those also called Aushmikas, and Nishadas, and Romakas, some cannibals and many possessing only one leg. I say, O king, standing at the gate, being refused permission to enter. And these diverse rulers brought as tribute ten thousand asses of diverse hues and black necks and huge bodies and great speed and much docility and celebrated all over the world.
|
|
