Text 1
śrī-śuka uvāca
duryodhana-sutāṁ rājan
lakṣmaṇāṁ samitiṁ-jayaḥ
svayaṁvara-sthām aharat
sāmbo jāmbavatī-sutaḥ
śrī-śukaḥ uvāca — Śukadeva Gosvāmī said; duryodhana-sutām — the daughter of Duryodhana; rājan — O King (Parīkṣit); lakṣmaṇām — named Lakṣmaṇā; samitim-jayaḥ — victorious in battle; svayaṁvara — in her svayaṁvara ceremony; sthām — situated; aharat — stole; sāmbaḥ — Sāmba; jāmbavatī-sutaḥ — the son of Jāmbavatī.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: O King, Jāmbavatī’s son Sāmba, ever victorious in battle, kidnapped Duryodhana’s daughter Lakṣmaṇā from her svayaṁvara ceremony.
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.”