216
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 9, Ch. 15]
TEXTS 5-6
तस्य सत्यवतीं कन्यामृचीकोऽयाचत द्विजः । 
  वरं विसदृशं मत्वा गाधिर्भार्गवमब्रवीत् ॥ ५ ॥ 
  एकतः श्यामकर्णानां हयानां चन्द्रवर्चसाम् । 
  सहस्रं दीयतां शुल्कं कन्यायाः कुशिका वयम् ॥ ६ ॥
tasya satyavatīm kanyām 
  ṛcīko 'yācata dvijaḥ 
  varam visadṛśam matvā 
  gādhir bhārgavam abravīt
ekataḥ śyāma-karṇānām 
  hayānām candra-varcasām 
  sahasram dīyatām śulkam 
  kanyāyāḥ kuśikā vayam
tasya—of Gādhi; satyavatīm—Satyavatī; kanyām—the daughter; ṛcīkaḥ—the great sage Ṛcīka; ayācata—requested; dvijaḥ—the brāhmaṇa; varam—as her husband; visadṛśam—not equal or fit; matvā—thinking like that; gādhiḥ—King Gādhi; bhārgavam—unto Ṛcīka; abravīt—replied; ekataḥ—by one; śyāma-karṇānām—whose ear is black; hayānām—horses; candra-varcasām—as brilliant as the moonshine; sahasram—one thousand; dīyatām—please deliver; śulkam—as a dowry; kanyāyāḥ—to my daughter; kuśikāḥ—in the family of Kuśa; vayam—we (are).
TRANSLATION
King Gādhi had a daughter named Satyavatī, whom a brāhmaṇa sage named Ṛcīka requested from the King to be his wife. King Gādhi, however, regarded Ṛcīka as an unfit husband for his daughter, and therefore he told the brāhmaṇa, “My dear sir, I belong to the dynasty of Kuśa. Because we are aristocratic kṣatriyas, you have to give some dowry for my daughter. Therefore, bring at least one thousand horses, each as brilliant as moonshine and each having one black ear, whether right or left.”