The Marriage of Sāmba

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.”

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura explains that the elder of the Kurus mentioned here is Bhīṣma, who gave permission to the younger men as follows: “Since this maiden has now been touched by Sāmba, she cannot take any other husband. He must become her husband. Nonetheless, you should arrest him and tie him up to make a statement about his impropriety and our own prowess. But in no case should he be killed.” The ācārya also adds that Bhīṣma accompanied the five warriors mentioned in this verse.

Commenting on the word acintyārbha, Śrīla Prabhupāda writes in Kṛṣṇa: “Sāmba, the glorious son of the Yadu dynasty, [was] endowed with inconceivable potencies as the son of Lord Kṛṣṇa.”

Śrīla Prabhupāda comments: “While Sāmba was so diligently fighting alone with the six great warriors, they all appreciated the inconceivable potency of the boy. Even in the midst of fighting, they admitted frankly that this boy Sāmba was wonderful.”

Śrīla Prabhupāda writes: “The great sage Nārada immediately carried the news to the Yadu dynasty that Sāmba was arrested and told them the whole story. The members of the Yadu dynasty became very angry at Sāmba's being arrested, and improperly so by six warriors. Now, with the permission of the head of the Yadu dynasty's king, Ugrasena, they prepared to attack the capital city of the Kuru dynasty.”

Śrīla Prabhupāda writes: “When Lord Balarāma reached the precincts of the city of Hastināpura, He did not enter but stationed Himself in a camp outside the city in a small garden house. Then He asked Uddhava to see the leaders of the Kuru dynasty and inquire from them whether they wanted to fight with the Yadu dynasty or to make a settlement.”

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī points out that there is no reference here to Uddhava offering respect to Yudhiṣṭhira and his associates, since at that time the Pāṇḍavas were staying in Indraprastha.

In Kṛṣṇa, Śrīla Prabhupāda writes: “The leaders of the Kuru dynasty, especially Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Duryodhana, were very joyful because they knew very well that Lord Balarāma was a great well-wisher of their family. There were no bounds to their joy on hearing the news, and so they immediately welcomed Uddhava. In order to properly receive Lord Balarāma, they all took in their hands auspicious paraphernalia for His reception and went to see Him outside the city gate.”

The ācāryas explain that even the elders, like Bhīṣmadeva, also bowed down to Lord Baladeva.

Śrīla Prabhupāda writes: “They all exchanged words of reception by asking one another of their welfare, and when such formality was finished, Lord Balarāma, in a great voice and very patiently, submitted before them the following words for their consideration.”

Here Ugrasena implies that the Kurus should immediately bring Sāmba and present him to Lord Balarāma.

By the words kāla-gatyā duratyayā, “the insurmountable movement of time,” the intolerant Kurus allude to the degraded Age of Kali, which was about to begin. Here the Kurus indicate that the fallen Age of Kali had indeed already begun, since they claim that now “the shoe wants to climb on the head that bears the royal crown.” In other words, they thought that the lowly Yadus now wanted to rise above the royal Kurus.

Śrīla Prabhupāda writes that the Kurus were thinking, “They [the Yadus] should not have used such royal paraphernalia in our presence, but we did not check them due to our family relationships.” By using the words asmad-upekṣayā, the Kurus mean to say, “They were able to use these royal insignia because we did not take the matter seriously.” As explained by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, the Kurus thought, “Showing concern about their use of these items would have been a sign of respect, but in fact we do not have such respect for them.… Since they are of inferior families, they are not to be respected, and so we pay no regard to them.”

Here Lord Balarāma angrily states, “Never mind the Yadus — these rascal Kauravas even dare to insult Lord Kṛṣṇa!”

The above translation is based on Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. According to Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī, the place of pilgrimage especially referred to here is the Ganges River. The Ganges water is inundating the whole world, and since it is emanating from Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet, its banks have turned into great places of pilgrimage.

Śrīla Prabhupāda writes as follows: “Lord Balarāma seemed so furious that He looked as if He could burn the whole cosmic creation to ashes. He stood up steadily and, taking His plow in His hand, began striking the earth with it. In this way the whole city of Hastināpura was separated from the earth. Lord Balarāma then began to drag the city toward the flowing water of the river Ganges. Because of this, there was a great tremor throughout Hastināpura, as if there had been an earthquake, and it seemed that the whole city would be dismantled.”

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī states that by the Lord’s desire His plow had increased in size, and that as Balarāma began dragging Hastināpura toward the water, He ordered the Ganges, “Except for Sāmba, you should attack and kill everyone in the city with your water.” Thus He would fulfill His promise to rid the earth of the Kauravas while making sure that nothing would happen to Sāmba.

The city of Hastināpura began to roll about like a raft in a stormy sea. The frightened Kauravas, to quickly appease the Lord, immediately brought Sāmba and Lakṣmaṇā and placed them in front.

The Kurus admit that Lord Balarāma’s anger was entirely appropriate and in fact was meant for their benefit. As Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī puts it, the Kurus meant to say, “Because You exhibited this anger, we have now become civilized, whereas previously we were wicked and could not see You, blinded as we were by pride.”

The Kauravas clearly realized that their lives and destinies were in the hands of the Lord.

Śrīla Prabhupāda writes as follows: “For the most part it was the practice of the kṣatriya kings to inaugurate some kind of fighting between the parties of the bride and bridegroom before the marriage. When Sāmba forcibly took away Lakṣmaṇa, the elderly members of the Kuru dynasty were pleased to see that he was actually the suitable match for her. In order to see his personal strength, however, they fought with him, and without any respect for the regulations of fighting, they all arrested him. When the Yadu dynasty decided to release Sāmba from the confinement of the Kurus, Lord Balarāma came personally to settle the matter, and, as a powerful kṣatriya, He ordered them to free Sāmba immediately. The Kauravas became superficially insulted by this order, so they challenged Lord Balarāma’s power. They simply wanted to see Him exhibit His inconceivable strength. Thus with great pleasure they handed over their daughter to Sāmba, and the whole matter was settled. Duryodhana, being affectionate toward his daughter Lakṣmaṇā, had her married to Sāmba in great pomp.… Balarāma was very satisfied after His great reception from the side of the Kurus, and accompanied by the newly married couple, He started toward His capital city of Dvārakā.

“Lord Balarāma triumphantly reached Dvārakā, where He met with many citizens who were all His devotees and friends. When they all assembled, Lord Balarāma narrated the whole story of the marriage, and they were astonished to hear how Balarāma had made the city of Hastināpura tremble.”