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Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
<< Canto 10, The Summum Bonum >>
<< 1 - The Advent of Lord Kṛṣṇa: Introduction >>
<< VERSE 31-32 >>
catuḥ-śataṁ pāribarhaṁ
gajānāṁ hema-mālinām
aśvānām ayutaṁ sārdhaṁ
rathānāṁ ca tri-ṣaṭ-śatam
dāsīnāṁ sukumārīṇāṁ
dve śate samalaṅkṛte
duhitre devakaḥ prādād
yāne duhitṛ-vatsalaḥ
WORD BY WORD
TRANSLATION
 | Devakī’s father, King Devaka, was very much affectionate to his daughter. Therefore, while she and her husband were leaving home, he gave her a dowry of four hundred elephants nicely decorated with golden garlands. He also gave ten thousand horses, eighteen hundred chariots, and two hundred very beautiful young maidservants, fully decorated with ornaments.
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PURPORT
| | The system of giving a dowry to one’s daughter has existed in Vedic civilization for a very long time. Even today, following the same system, a father who has money will give his daughter an opulent dowry. A daughter would never inherit the property of her father, and therefore an affectionate father, during the marriage of his daughter, would give her as much as possible. A dowry, therefore, is never illegal according to the Vedic system. Here, of course, the gift offered as a dowry by Devaka to Devakī was not ordinary. Because Devaka was a king, he gave a dowry quite suitable to his royal position. Even an ordinary man, especially a high-class brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya or vaiśya, is supposed to give his daughter a liberal dowry. Immediately after the marriage, the daughter goes to her husband’s house, and it is also a custom for the brother of the bride to accompany his sister and brother-in-law to exhibit affection for her. This system was followed by Kaṁsa. These are all old customs in the society of varṇāśrama-dharma, which is now wrongly designated as Hindu. These long-standing customs are nicely described here.
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