Text* 1: Ĺukadeva GosvÄmÄŤ said: Having thus spoken, all those infuriated kings donned their armor and mounted their conveyances. Each king, bow in hand, was surrounded by his own army as he went after Lord KášášŁáša.
Text* 2: The commanders of the YÄdava army, seeing the enemy racing to attack, turned to face them and stood firm, O King, twanging their bows.
Text* 3: Mounted on the backs of horses, the shoulders of elephants and the seats of chariots, the enemy kings, expert with weapons, rained down arrows upon the Yadus like clouds pouring rain on mountains.
Text* 4: Slender-waisted RukmiášÄŤ, seeing her Lordâs army covered by torrents of arrows, shyly looked at His face with fear-stricken eyes.
Text 5: In response the Lord laughed and assured her, âDo not be afraid, beautiful-eyed one. This enemy force is about to be destroyed by your soldiers.â
Text* 6: The heroes of the Lordâs army, headed by Gada and Saáš
karᚣaáša, could not tolerate the aggression of the opposing kings. Thus with iron arrows they began to strike down the enemyâs horses, elephants and chariots.
Text* 7: The heads of soldiers fighting on chariots, horses and elephants fell to the ground by the millions; some heads wore earrings and helmets, others turbans.
Text 8: Lying all around were thighs, legs and fingerless hands, along with hands clutching swords, clubs and bows, and also the heads of horses, donkeys, elephants, camels, wild asses and humans.
Text 9: Seeing their armies being struck down by the VášášŁášis, who were eager for victory, the kings headed by JarÄsandha were discouraged and left the battlefield.
Text 10: The kings approached ĹiĹupÄla, who was disturbed like a man who has lost his wife. His complexion was drained of color, his enthusiasm was gone, and his face appeared dried up. The kings spoke to him as follows.
Text* 11: [JarÄsandha said:] Listen, ĹiĹupÄla, O tiger among men, give up your depression. After all, embodied beingsâ happiness and unhappiness is never seen to be permanent, O King.
Text 12: Just as a puppet in the form of a woman dances by the desire of the puppeteer, so this world, controlled by the Supreme Lord, struggles in both happiness and misery.
Text 13: In battle with KášášŁáša I and my twenty-three armies lost seventeen times; only once did I defeat Him.
Text 14: But still I never lament or rejoice, because I know this world is driven by time and fate.
Text* 15: And now all of us, great commanders of military leaders, have been defeated by the Yadus and their small entourage, who are protected by KášášŁáša.
Text* 16: Now our enemies have conquered because time favors them, but in the future, when time is auspicious for us, we shall conquer.
Text* 17: Ĺukadeva GosvÄmÄŤ said: Thus persuaded by his friends, ĹiĹupÄla took his followers and went back to his capital. The surviving warriors also returned to their respective cities.
Text* 18: Powerful RukmÄŤ, however, was especially envious of KášášŁáša. He could not bear the fact that KášášŁáša had carried off his sister to marry her in the RÄkᚣasa style. Thus he pursued the Lord with an entire military division.
Text 19-20: Frustrated and enraged, mighty-armed RukmÄŤ, dressed in armor and wielding his bow, had sworn before all the kings, âI shall not again enter Kuášá¸ina if I do not kill KášášŁáša in battle and bring RukmiášÄŤ back with me. I swear this to you.â
Text* 21: Having said this, he had mounted his chariot and told his charioteer, âDrive the horses quickly to where KášášŁáša is. He and I must fight.
Text 22: âThis wicked-minded cowherd boy, infatuated with His prowess, has violently abducted my sister. But today I will remove His pride with my sharp arrows.â
Text 23: Boasting thus, foolish RukmÄŤ, ignorant of the true extent of the Supreme Lordâs power, approached Lord Govinda in his lone chariot and challenged Him, âJust stand and fight!â
Text 24: RukmÄŤ drew his bow with great strength and struck Lord KášášŁáša with three arrows. Then he said, âStand here for a moment, O defiler of the Yadu dynasty!
Text 25: âWherever You go, carrying off my sister like a crow stealing sacrificial butter, I will follow. This very day I shall relieve You of Your false pride, You fool, You deceiver, You cheater in battle!
Text 26: âRelease the girl before You are struck dead by my arrows and made to lie down!â In response to this, Lord KášášŁáša smiled, and with six arrows He struck RukmÄŤ and broke his bow.
Text* 27: The Lord struck RukmÄŤâs four horses with eight arrows, his chariot driver with two, and the chariotâs flag with three. RukmÄŤ grabbed another bow and struck Lord KášášŁáša with five arrows.
Text* 28: Although hit by these many arrows, Lord Acyuta again broke RukmÄŤâs bow. RukmÄŤ picked up yet another bow, but the infallible Lord broke that one to pieces as well.
Text* 29: Iron bludgeon, three-pointed spear, sword and shield, pike, javelin â whatever weapon RukmÄŤ picked up, Lord Hari smashed it to bits.
Text* 30: Then RukmÄŤ leaped down from his chariot and, sword in hand, rushed furiously toward KášášŁáša to kill Him, like a bird flying into the wind.
Text* 31: As RukmÄŤ attacked Him, the Lord shot arrows that broke RukmÄŤâs sword and shield into small pieces. KášášŁáša then took up His own sharp sword and prepared to kill RukmÄŤ.
Text* 32: Seeing Lord KášášŁáša ready to kill her brother, saintly RukmiášÄŤ was filled with alarm. She fell at her husbandâs feet and piteously spoke as follows.
Text* 33: ĹrÄŤ RukmiášÄŤ said: O controller of all mystic power, immeasurable one, Lord of lords, master of the universe! O all auspicious and mighty-armed one, please do not kill my brother!
Text 34: Ĺukadeva GosvÄmÄŤ said: RukmiášÄŤâs utter fear caused her limbs to tremble and her mouth to dry up, while her throat choked up out of sorrow. And in her agitation her golden necklace scattered. She grasped KášášŁášaâs feet, and the Lord, feeling compassionate, desisted.
Text 35: Lord KášášŁáša tied up the evil-doer with a strip of cloth. He then proceeded to disfigure RukmÄŤ by comically shaving him, leaving parts of his mustache and hair. By that time the Yadu heroes had crushed the extraordinary army of their opponents, just as elephants crush a lotus flower.
Text* 36: As the Yadus approached Lord KášášŁáša, they saw RukmÄŤ in this sorry condition, practically dying of shame. When the all-powerful Lord BalarÄma saw RukmÄŤ, He compassionately released him and spoke the following to Lord KášášŁáša.
Text 37: [Lord BalarÄma said:] My dear KášášŁáša, You have acted improperly! This deed will bring shame on Us, for to disfigure a close relative by shaving off his mustache and hair is as good as killing him.
Text* 38: Saintly lady, please do not be displeased with Us out of anxiety for your brotherâs disfigurement. No one but oneself is responsible for oneâs joy and grief, for a man experiences the result of his own deeds.
Text 39: [Again addressing KášášŁáša, BalarÄma said:] A relative should not be killed even if his wrongdoing warrants capital punishment. Rather, he should be thrown out of the family. Since he has already been killed by his own sin, why kill him again?
Text 40: [Turning to RukmiášÄŤ, BalarÄma continued:] The code of sacred duty for warriors established by Lord BrahmÄ enjoins that one may have to kill even his own brother. That is indeed a most dreadful law.
Text 41: [Again BalarÄma addressed KášášŁáša:] Blinded by conceit with their personal opulences, proud men offend others for the sake of such things as kingdom, land, wealth, women, honor and power.
Text* 42: [To RukmiášÄŤ BalarÄma said:] Your attitude is unfair, for like an ignorant person you wish good to those who are inimical to all living beings and who have done evil to your true well-wishers.
Text* 43: The Supreme Lordâs MÄyÄ makes men forget their real selves, and thus, taking the body for the self, they consider others to be friends, enemies or neutral parties.
Text 44: Those who are bewildered perceive the one Supreme Soul, who resides in all embodied beings, as many, just as one may perceive the light in the sky, or the sky itself, as many.
Text 45: 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.
Text 46: 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.
Text 47: Birth and other transformations are undergone by the body but never by the self, just as change occurs for the moonâs phases but never for the moon, though the new-moon day may be called the moonâs âdeath.â
Text 48: 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.
Text 49: Therefore, with transcendental knowledge dispel the grief that is weakening and confounding your mind. Please resume your natural mood, O princess of the pristine smile.
Text* 50: Ĺukadeva GosvÄmÄŤ said: Thus enlightened by Lord BalarÄma, slender RukmiášÄŤ forgot her depression and steadied her mind by spiritual intelligence.
Text* 51: Left with only his life air, cast out by his enemies and deprived of his strength and bodily radiance, RukmÄŤ could not forget how he had been disfigured. In frustration he constructed for his residence a large city, which he called Bhojakaáša.
Text 52: Because he had promised âI will not reenter Kuášá¸ina until I have killed wicked KášášŁáša and brought back my younger sister,â in a mood of angry frustration RukmÄŤ took up residence at that very place.
Text* 53: Thus defeating all the opposing kings, the Supreme Personality of Godhead brought the daughter of Bhčᚣmaka to His capital and married her according to the Vedic injunctions, O protector of the Kurus.
Text* 54: At that time, O King, there was great rejoicing in all the homes of YadupurÄŤ, whose citizens loved only KášášŁáša, chief of the Yadus.
Text* 55: All the men and women, full of joy and adorned with shining jewels and earrings, brought wedding presents, which they reverently offered to the exquisitely dressed groom and bride.
Text* 56: The city of the VášášŁášis appeared most beautiful: there were tall, festive columns, and also archways decorated with flower garlands, cloth banners and precious gems. Arrangements of auspicious, full waterpots, aguru-scented incense, and lamps graced every doorway.
Text* 57: The cityâs streets were cleansed by the intoxicated elephants belonging to the beloved kings who were guests at the wedding, and these elephants further enhanced the beauty of the city by placing trunks of plantain and betel-nut trees in all the doorways.
Text* 58: Those who belonged to the royal families of the Kuru, SášĂąjaya, Kaikeya, Vidarbha, Yadu and Kunti clans joyfully met one another in the midst of the crowds of people excitedly running here and there.
Text* 59: The kings and their daughters were totally astonished to hear the story of RukmiášÄŤâs abduction, which was being glorified in song everywhere.
Text 60: DvÄrakÄâs citizens were overjoyed to see KášášŁáša, the Lord of all opulence, united with RukmiášÄŤ, the goddess of fortune.