Text 55
śyāmaika-varṇān varuṇo
hayān śuklān mano-javān
aṣṭau nidhi-patiḥ kośān
loka-pālo nijodayān
śyāma — dark blue; eka — exclusively; varṇān — colored; varuṇaḥ — Varuṇa, ruler of the oceans; hayān — horses; śuklān — white; manaḥ — (as the) mind; javān — swift; aṣṭau — eight; nidhi-patiḥ — the treasurer of the demigods, Kuvera; kośān — treasures; loka-pālaḥ — the rulers of various planets; nija — their own; udayān — opulences.
Lord Varuṇa offered horses as swift as the mind, some of which were pure dark-blue, others white. The treasurer of the demigods, Kuvera, gave his eight mystic treasures, and the rulers of various planets each presented their own opulences.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī comments as follows on this verse: “The master of the treasury is Kuvera, and the eight treasures are his nidhis. These are described as follows:
padmaś caiva mahāpadmo
matsya-kūrmau tathaudakaḥ
nīlo mukundaḥ śaṅkhaś ca
nidhayo ’ṣṭau prakīrtitāḥ
‘The eight mystic treasures are called Padma, Mahāpadma, Matsya, Kūrma, Audaka, Nīla, Mukunda and Śaṅkha.’”