catuḥ-Å›ataá¹ pÄribarhaá¹
gajÄnÄá¹ hema-mÄlinÄm
aÅ›vÄnÄm ayutaá¹ sÄrdhaá¹
rathÄnÄá¹ ca tri-á¹£aá¹-Å›atam
dÄsÄ«nÄá¹ sukumÄrīṇÄá¹
dve śate samalaṅkṛte
duhitre devakaḥ prÄdÄd
yÄne duhitá¹›-vatsalaḥ
catuḥ-Å›atam - four hundred; pÄribarham - dowry; gajÄnÄm - of elephants; hema-mÄlinÄm - decorated with garlands of gold; aÅ›vÄnÄm - of horses; ayutam - ten thousand; sÄrdham - along with; rathÄnÄm - of chariots; ca - and; tri-á¹£aá¹-Å›atam - three times six hundred (eighteen hundred); dÄsÄ«nÄm - of maidservants; su-kumÄrīṇÄm - very young and beautiful unmarried girls; dve - two; Å›ate - hundred; samalaá¹…ká¹›te - fully decorated with ornaments; duhitre - unto his daughter; devakaḥ - King Devaka; prÄdÄt - gave as a gift; yÄne - while going away; duhitá¹›-vatsalaḥ - who was very fond of his daughter DevakÄ«.
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 DevakÄ« 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 brÄhmaṇa, ká¹£atriya or vaiÅ›ya, 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 Kaá¹sa. These are all old customs in the society of varṇÄÅ›rama-dharma, which is now wrongly designated as Hindu. These long-standing customs are nicely described here.