॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
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श्रीशुक उवाच
सैवं भगवता राजन् वैदर्भी परिसान्त्विता । ज्ञात्वा तत्परिहासोक्तिं प्रियत्यागभयं जहौ ॥
बभाष ऋषभं पुंसां वीक्षन्ती भगवन्मुखम् । सव्रीडहासरुचिरस्निग्धापाङ्गेन भारत ॥
T: Sage Shuka continued: Consoled by Sri Krishna's disarming confession that he had only spoken in jest and his effusive and sincere affection showered on her, Rukmini recovered her composure and smiled, looking bashfully sidelong at Sri Krishna and then spoke.
श्रीरुक्मिण्युवाच
नन्वेवमेतदरविन्दविलोचनाह यद्वै भवान् भगवतोऽसदृशी विभूम्न: ।
क्व स्वे महिम्न्यभिरतो भगवांस्त्र्यधीश: क्वाहं गुणप्रकृतिरज्ञगृहीतपादा ॥
सत्यं भयादिव गुणेभ्य उरुक्रमान्त: शेते समुद्र उपलम्भनमात्र आत्मा ।
नित्यं कदिन्द्रियगणै: कृतविग्रहस्त्वं त्वत्सेवकैर्नृपपदं विधुतं तमोऽन्धम् ॥
त्वत्पादपद्ममकरन्दजुषां मुनीनां वर्त्मास्फुटं नृपशुभिर्ननु दुर्विभाव्यम् ।
यस्मादलौकिकमिवेहितमीश्वरस्य भूमंस्तवेहितमथो अनु ये भवन्तम् ॥
T: Sri Rukmini spoke: "Oh, Lord with lotus-eyes, indeed what you have said is true. I am unsuitable and not your equal in any way! You are the supreme Bhagavan, master of the three worlds, delighting in Paramatma always, and I a mere mortal pursued by trivial men! You are Trivikrama, residing in the ocean (a pun on Dwaraka and the Milky Ocean), hiding as it were from the Maya of three Gunas, rejecting royal living to stay away from the sense enemies, something that even your servants are wise to follow! Coming to your inscrutability, yes, I agree. When sages who dwell as honey-bees in your lotus feet are themselves unable to understand you, what about men who live like animals giving in to sense pleasures? Not only you, oh, Lord, but even your followers are also hard to understand!"
In this vein, Rukmini answered each of the points raised by Sri Krishna, demonstrating the intellect and wisdom of the best of devotees.
निष्किञ्चनो ननु भवान् न यतोऽस्ति किञ्चिद्यस्मै बलिं बलिभुजोऽपि हरन्त्यजाद्या: ।
न त्वा विदन्त्यसुतृपोऽन्तकमाढ्यतान्धा: प्रेष्ठो भवान् बलिभुजामपि तेऽपि तुभ्यम् ॥
त्वं वै समस्तपुरुषार्थमय: फलात्मा यद्वाञ्छया सुमतयो विसृजन्ति कृत्स्नम् ।
तेषां विभो समुचितो भवत: समाज: पुंस: स्त्रियाश्च रतयो: सुखदु:खिनोर्न ॥
त्वं न्यस्तदण्डमुनिभिर्गदितानुभाव आत्मात्मदश्च जगतामिति मे वृतोऽसि ।
हित्वा भवद्भ्रुव उदीरितकालवेग ध्वस्ताशिषोऽब्जभवनाकपतीन् कुतोऽन्ये ॥
जाड्यं वचस्तव गदाग्रज यस्तु भूपान् विद्राव्य शार्ङ्गनिनदेन जहर्थ मां त्वम् ।
सिंहो यथा स्वबलिमीश पशून् स्वभागं तेभ्यो भयाद् यदुदधिं शरणं प्रपन्न: ॥
यद्वाञ्छया नृपशिखामणयोऽङ्गवैन्यजायन्तनाहुषगयादय ऐक्यपत्यम् ।
राज्यं विसृज्य विविशुर्वनमम्बुजाक्ष सीदन्ति तेऽनुपदवीं त इहास्थिता: किम् ॥
T: "That you possess nothing materially is because nothing is outside of you, oh, Lord, the very reason even Brahma (who receives Yajna offerings) worships you! Those engrossed in their own wealth fail to see you as Kaala (Death!) that ends all possessions. Coming to courting your company instead of harbouring animosity, only the wise give up all else and surrender to you, not those stuck in pleasure and pain of lusty desires."
" You are the embodiment of all human goals and are yourself the final aim of life. Desiring to attain you, Oh, all-powerful Lord, intelligent persons abandon everything else. It is they who are worthy of your association, not men and women absorbed in the pleasures and griefs resulting from their lives of lust."
"Consider this. Even those on the path of Sannyasa (ascetic renunciation) give up their staff and surrender to you finally! Any surprise then that I rejected Brahma, Shiva and other gods and came to you (harks to Sri Lakshmi's wedding Maha Vishnu when she rose from the Milky Ocean). Your mere twitching of eyebrows is enough to annihilate creation. So those proud of their possessions are foolish. What question then remains about why I rejected other mortal kings?"
"My Lord, like a lion drives away lesser animals to claim his proper tribute, you dispersed rival kings with your Sharnga bow when they came and attacked you. How can you say a foolish thing now that you ran away and hid in the middle of the ocean?"
Rukmini lists names of many kings over the ages who abandoned their throne and went seeking the Lord to an ascetic life in the forest - Nahusha, Anga, Jayanta, Gaya... The Bhagavan Sri Krishna's lotus feet are the shelter of even Sri Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity; these are what Rukmini has sought. How could she have sought anyone else?
"May your feet, which give freedom from illusion to the one approaching them for worship, give shelter to me, I who have been wandering from one material situation to another. Never for me the life of other women who have sought other men - all of them nothing but a living corpse covered with skin, whiskers, nails, head-hair and body-hair and filled with flesh, bones, blood, parasites, faeces, mucus, bile and air. Oh, lotus-eyed one, though you are satisfied within yourself- Paramatma- and thus rarely turn your attention toward me, please bless me with steady love for your feet. It is when you assume a predominance of passion in order to manifest the universe that you glance upon me, showing me what is indeed your greatest mercy."
Rukmini concludes by saying that Bhagavan was right to test her as often an unchaste woman covets other men. But Rukmini has demonstrated comprehensively how she is the fitting divine spouse for Bhagavan.
श्रीभगवानुवाच
साध्व्येतच्छ्रोतुकामैस्त्वं राजपुत्री प्रलम्भिता । मयोदितं यदन्वात्थ सर्वं तत् सत्यमेव हि ॥
यान् यान् कामयसे कामान् मय्यकामाय भामिनि । सन्ति ह्येकान्तभक्तायास्तव कल्याणि नित्यद ॥
उपलब्धं पतिप्रेम पातिव्रत्यं च तेऽनघे । यद्वाक्यैश्चाल्यमानाया न धीर्मय्यपकर्षिता ॥
T: Bhagavan spoke: "My dearest Rukmini, whatever benedictions you hope for in order to become free of material desires are ever yours, for you have shown that you are an unalloyed devotee. Oh, saintly lady, oh, princess, I jested and confused you only to hear you speak like this. Indeed, everything you said in reply to my words is most certainly true. Oh, sinless one, I have now seen firsthand the pure love and chaste attachment you have for your husband. Even though shaken by my words, your mind could not be pulled away from me!"
Bhagavan adds two very important points. He is always ready to grant liberation. But even those who behave like pious people are quite satisfied with material gains and a worldly life of "domestic happiness." Thus, they miss the summum bonum of devotion. Then there are those who, during Bhagavan's incarnation, secure the rarest gift of being near his human form, and even developing a bond. But they are not, still, beyond the temptation of the world of senses and the deathly grip of Gunas. Hence they fail to take advantage of their most cherishable proximity to Bhagavan!
Sri Krishna declares that Devi Rukmini is the greatest of his devotees and the foremost among his spouses. He mentions with sincere appreciation how Rukmini withstood the ignominy of her brother Rukmi being shamed on the battle-field. Sri Krishna mentions how Rukmi got involved in a gambling match and was killed during the violence that followed, coinciding with the wedding of Aniruddha. Rukmini maintained a most stoic demeanour even after coming to know of Rukmi's death, respecting the occasion and out of respect for Sri Krishna.
मत्वा जिहास इदमङ्गमनन्ययोग्यं तिष्ठेत तत्त्वयि वयं प्रतिनन्दयाम: ॥
T: "Beloved Rukmini, May this greatness of yours remain with you always; I can do nothing to reciprocate except joyfully thanking you for your devotion."
Sage Shuka concludes this report of a most interesting dialogue between Sri Krishna and Rukmini that this was also one of Bhagavan's Leelas and the Lord was play-acting the role of a typical worldly husband! He adds that such sports occurred even between Bhagavan and his other spouses.
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