पुराणे विश्वासटिप्पन्यः

CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

This chapter describes how Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa defeated the opposing kings after kidnapping Rukmiṇī, disfigured Rukmiṇī’s brother Rukmī, brought Rukmiṇī to His capital and married her.

As Śrī Kṛṣṇa was taking Princess Rukmiṇī away, the inimical kings gathered their armies and pursued Him. Lord Baladeva and the generals of the Yādava army turned to face these opponents, blocking their advance. The enemy armies then began pouring incessant showers of arrows upon Lord Kṛṣṇa’s army. Seeing her husband-to-be’s forces under such violent attack, Śrīmatī Rukmiṇī looked at Śrī Kṛṣṇa fearfully. But Kṛṣṇa simply smiled and told her there was nothing to fear because His army would surely destroy the enemy in short order.

Lord Balarāma and the other heroes then began to annihilate the opposing army with nārāca arrows. The enemy kings, headed by Jarāsandha, retreated after suffering the destruction of their armies at the hands of the Yādavas.

Jarāsandha consoled Śiśupāla: “Happiness and distress are never permanent and are under the control of the Supreme Lord. Seventeen times Kṛṣṇa defeated me, but in the end I was victorious over Him. Thus seeing that victory and defeat are under the control of destiny and time, I have learned not to succumb to either lamentation or joy. Time now favors the Yādavas, so they have defeated you with only a small army, but in the future time will favor you, and you will surely conquer them.” Consoled in this way, Śiśupāla took his followers and returned to his kingdom.

Rukmiṇī’s brother Rukmī, who hated Kṛṣṇa, was infuriated by Kṛṣṇa’s kidnapping of his sister. So, after vowing before all the kings present that he would not return to Kuṇḍina until Kṛṣṇa had been destroyed and Rukmiṇī rescued, Rukmī set out with his army to attack the Lord. Ignorant of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s glories, Rukmī boldly went out to attack Kṛṣṇa in a lone chariot. He approached the Lord, struck Him with arrows and demanded that He release Rukmiṇī. Śrī Kṛṣṇa fended off Rukmī’s weapons, breaking them to pieces. Then He raised His sword high and was about to kill Rukmī when Rukmiṇī interceded and fervently pleaded that her brother’s life be spared. Lord Kṛṣṇa did not kill Rukmī, but with His sword He shaved off bits of Rukmī’s hair here and there, leaving him disfigured. Just then Lord Baladeva appeared on the scene with the Yādava army. Seeing Rukmī disfigured, He gently reproached Kṛṣṇa: “To disfigure such a close family member is as good as killing him; therefore he should not be killed but set free.”

Texts 19-20

Devanagari

रुक्‍म्यमर्षी सुसंरब्ध- श‍ृण्वतां सर्वभूभुजाम् ।
प्रतिजज्ञे महाबाहुर्दंशित- सशरासन- ॥ १९ ॥
अहत्वा समरे कृष्णमप्रत्यूह्य च रुक्‍मिणीम् ।
कुण्डिनं न प्रवेक्ष्यामि सत्यमेतद् ब्रवीमि व- ॥ २० ॥

Verse text

rukmy amarṣī su-saṁrabdhaḥ
śṛṇvatāṁ sarva-bhūbhujām
pratijajñe mahā-bāhur
daṁśitaḥ sa-śarāsanaḥ

ahatvā samare kṛṣṇam
apratyūhya ca rukmiṇīm
kuṇḍinaṁ na pravekṣyāmi
satyam etad bravīmi vaḥ

Synonyms

rukmī — Rukmī; amarṣī — intolerant; su-saṁrabdhaḥ — extremely angry; śṛṇvatām — while they listened; sarva — all; bhū-bhujām — the kings; pratijajñe — he swore; mahā-bāhuḥ — mighty-armed; daṁśitaḥ — wearing his armor; sa-śarāsanaḥ — with his bow; ahatvā — without killing; samare — in battle; kṛṣṇam — Kṛṣṇa; apratyūhya — without bringing back; ca — and; rukmiṇīm — Rukmiṇī; kuṇḍinam — the city of Kuṇḍina; na pravekṣyāmi — I shall not enter; satyam — in truth; etat — this; bravīmi — I say; vaḥ — to all of you.

Translation

Frustrated and enraged, mighty-armed Rukmī, dressed in armor and wielding his bow, had sworn before all the kings, “I shall not again enter Kuṇḍina if I do not kill Kṛṣṇa in battle and bring Rukmiṇī back with me. I swear this to you.”

Purport

Rukmī spoke these angry words and then set off to pursue Lord Kṛṣṇa, as described in the following verses.

Purport

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī quotes the “worldly rule” that one’s sister is the personification of mercy: dayāyā bhaginī mūrtiḥ. Even though Rukmī was wicked and was opposed to his sister’s best interest, Rukmiṇī was compassionate toward him, and the Lord shared her compassion.

Text 35

Devanagari

Purport

Omniscient Balarāma knew that Rukmī was the guilty party, but to encourage the lamenting Rukmiṇī He decided to gently reproach Śrī Kṛṣṇa

Purport

The last line of this text, yathā jyotir yathā nabhaḥ, introduces two analogies in which we perceive one thing to be many. Jyotiḥ indicates the light of heavenly bodies such as the sun or moon. Although there is only one moon, we may see the moon reflected in pools, rivers, lakes and buckets of water. Then it would appear as if there were many moons, although there is only one. Similarly, we perceive a divine presence in each living being because the Supreme Lord is present everywhere, although He is one. The second analogy given here, yathā nabhaḥ, is that of the sky. If we have a row of sealed clay pots in a room, the sky, or air, is in each pot, although the sky itself is one.

The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.32) gives a similar analogy concerning fire and wood:

yathā hy avahito vahnir
dāruṣv ekaḥ sva-yoniṣu
nāneva bhāti viśvātmā
bhūteṣu ca tathā pumān

“The Lord, as the Supersoul, pervades all things, just as fire permeates wood, and so He appears to be of many varieties, though He is the absolute one without a second.”

Text 45

Devanagari

देह आद्यन्तवानेष द्रव्यप्राणगुणात्मक- ।
आत्मन्यविद्यया क्लृप्त- संसारयति देहिनम् ॥ ४५ ॥

Verse text

deha ādy-antavān eṣa
dravya-prāṇa-guṇātmakaḥ
ātmany avidyayā kḷptaḥ
saṁsārayati dehinam

Synonyms

dehaḥ — the material body; ādi — beginning; anta — and end; vān — having; eṣaḥ — this; dravya — of the physical elements; prāṇa — the senses; guṇa — and the primary modes of material nature (goodness, passion and ignorance); ātmakaḥ — composed; ātmani — on the self; avidyayā — by material ignorance; kḷptaḥ — imposed; saṁsārayati — causes to experience the cycle of birth and death; dehinam — an embodied being.

Translation

This material body, which has a beginning and an end, is composed of the physical elements, the senses and the modes of nature. The body, imposed on the self by material ignorance, causes one to experience the cycle of birth and death.

Purport

The material body, composed of various material qualities, elements and so on, attracts and repels the conditioned soul and thus entangles him in material existence. Because of our attraction and repulsion for our own body and other bodies, we establish temporary relationships, dedicate ourselves to great endeavors and sacrifices, concoct imaginary religions, make noble speeches and thoroughly involve ourselves in material illusion. As Shakespeare said, “All the world’s a stage.” Beyond the somewhat absurd theater of material existence is the real and meaningful world of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the liberated life of pure souls devoted in loving service to the Supreme Lord.

Text 46

Devanagari

नात्मनोऽन्येन संयोगो वियोगश्चासत- सति ।
तद्धेतुत्वात्तत्प्रसिद्धेर्द‍ृग्‌रूपाभ्यां यथा रवे- ॥ ४६ ॥

Verse text

nātmano ’nyena saṁyogo
viyogaś casataḥ sati
tad-dhetutvāt tat-prasiddher
dṛg-rūpābhyāṁ yathā raveḥ

Synonyms

na — not; ātmanaḥ — for the self; anyena — with anything else; saṁyogaḥ — contact; viyogaḥ — separation; ca — and; asataḥ — with that which is insubstantial; sati — O discriminating one; tat — from it (the self); hetutvāt — because of originating; tat — by it (the self); prasiddheḥ — because of being revealed; dṛk — with the sense of vision; rūpābhyām — and visible form; yathā — as; raveḥ — for the sun.

Translation

O intelligent lady, the soul never undergoes contact with or separation from insubstantial, material objects, because the soul is their very origin and illuminator. Thus the soul resembles the sun, which neither comes in contact with nor separates from the sense of sight and what is seen.

Purport

As explained in the previous text, the conditioned soul ignorantly assumes himself to be the material body and thus rotates in the cycle of birth and death. In fact, matter and spirit are co-energies of the original source of everything, the Supreme Lord, who is the Absolute Truth.

As Lord Kṛṣṇa explains in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.5), jīva-bhūtāṁ mahā-bāho yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat. The material world is sustained by the living beings’ desire to exploit it. The material world is like a prison. Criminals are determined to commit crimes, and thus the government finds it necessary to maintain a prison system. Similarly, the Supreme Lord maintains the material universes because the conditioned souls are determined to rebel against Him and try to enjoy without His loving cooperation. Thus here the phrase tad-dhetutvāt is used to describe the soul, meaning that the soul is the cause of matter assembling itself into a material body. The term tat-prasiddheḥ indicates that the soul is the cause of the body’s being perceived, and the same term also indicates that this fact is well known to the enlightened.

Besides its given meaning, the word ātmanaḥ in this verse may indicate the Supreme Soul, in which case the term tad-dhetutvāt indicates that Lord Kṛṣṇa expands His personal potency and thus manifests the material universe. Since the Lord exists eternally in His pure, spiritual body, He never becomes material, as indicated here.

Text 47

Devanagari

जन्मादयस्तु देहस्य विक्रियानात्मन- क्व‍‍चित् ।
कलानामिव नैवेन्दोर्मृतिर्ह्यस्य कुहूरिव ॥ ४७ ॥

Verse text

janmādayas tu dehasya
vikriyā nātmanaḥ kvacit
kalānām iva naivendor
mṛtir hy asya kuhūr iva

Synonyms

janma-ādayaḥ — birth and so on; tu — but; dehasya — of the body; vikriyāḥ — transformations; na — not; ātmanaḥ — of the self; kvacit — ever; kalānām — of the phases; iva — as; na — not; eva — indeed; indoḥ — of the moon; mṛtiḥ — the death; hi — indeed; asya — of it; kuhūḥ — the new moon day; iva — as.

Translation

Birth and other transformations are undergone by the body but never by the self, just as change occurs for the moon’s phases but never for the moon, though the new-moon day may be called the moon’s “death.”

Purport

Lord Balarāma here explains how the conditioned souls identify with the body and how this identification should be given up. Certainly every ordinary person considers himself or herself young, middle-aged or old, healthy or sick. But such identification is an illusion, just as the waxing and waning of the moon is an illusion. When we identify ourselves with the material body, we lose our power to understand the soul.

Text 48

Devanagari

यथा शयान आत्मानं विषयान् फलमेव च ।
अनुभुङ्क्ते ऽप्यसत्यर्थे तथाप्नोत्यबुधो भवम् ॥ ४८ ॥

Verse text

yathā śayāna ātmānaṁ
viṣayān phalam eva ca
anubhuṅkte ’py asaty arthe
tathāpnoty abudho bhavam

Synonyms

yathā — as; śayānaḥ — a sleeping person; ātmānam — himself; viṣayān — sense objects; phalam — the fruits; eva — indeed; ca — also; anubhuṅkte — experiences; api — even; asati arthe — in that which is not real; tathā — so; āpnoti — undergoes; abudhaḥ — the unintelligent; bhavam — material existence.

Translation

As a sleeping person perceives himself, the objects of sense enjoyment and the fruits of his acts within the illusion of a dream, so one who is unintelligent undergoes material existence.

Purport

As stated in śruti, asaṅgo hy ayaṁ puruṣaḥ: “The living being has no intimate connection with the material world.” This point is explained in the present verse. A similar statement is found in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.22.56):

arthe ’hy avidyamāne ’pi
saṁsṛtir na nivartate
dhyāyato viṣayān asya
svapne ’narthāgamo yathā

“For one who is meditating on sense gratification, material life, although lacking factual existence, does not go away, just as the unpleasant experiences of a dream do not.”

Text 49

Devanagari

Purport

Thus end the purports of the humble servants of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda to the Tenth Canto, Fifty-fourth Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “The Marriage of Kṛṣṇa and Rukmiṇī.”