Å›rÄ«-rukmiṇy uvÄca
nanv evam etad aravinda-vilocanÄha
yad vai bhavÄn bhagavato 'sadṛśī vibhÅ«mnaḥ
kva sve mahimny abhirato bhagavÄá¹s try-adhÄ«Å›aḥ
kvÄhaá¹ guṇa-praká¹›tir ajña-gá¹›hÄ«ta-pÄdÄ
Å›rÄ«-rukmiṇī uvÄca - ÅšrÄ« Rukmiṇī said; nanu - well; evam - so be it; etat - this; aravinda-vilocana - O lotus-eyed one; Äha - said; yat - which; vai - indeed; bhavÄn - You; bhagavataḥ - to the Supreme Lord; asadṛśī - unequal; vibhÅ«mnaḥ - to the almighty; kva - where, in comparison; sve - in His own; mahimni - glory; abhirataḥ - taking pleasure; bhagavÄn - the Supreme Lord; tri - of the three (principal deities, namely BrahmÄ, Viṣṇu and Åšiva); adhÄ«Å›aḥ - the controller; kva - and where; aham - myself; guṇa - of material qualities; praká¹›tiḥ - whose character; ajña - by foolish persons; gá¹›hÄ«ta - taken hold of; pÄdÄ - whose feet.
Śrī Rukmiṇī said: Actually, what You have said is true, O lotus-eyed one. I am indeed unsuitable for the almighty Personality of Godhead. What comparison is there between that Supreme Lord, who is master of the three primal deities and who delights in His own glory, and myself, a woman of mundane qualities whose feet are grasped by fools?
ÅšrÄ«la ÅšrÄ«dhara SvÄmÄ« lists the faults Lord Kṛṣṇa had described in Himself that He claimed disqualified Him from being Rukmiṇī’s husband. These include incompatibility, fearfulness, taking shelter in the ocean, quarreling with the powerful, abandoning His kingdom, uncertainty as to His identity, acting against ordinary standards of behavior, having no good qualities, being praised falsely by beggars, aloofness, and lack of desire for family life. The Lord claimed that Rukmiṇī had failed to recognize these bad qualities in Him. Now she begins to respond to all the Lord’s statements.
First she responds to ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa’s statement in text 11 of this chapter: kasmÄn no vavṛṣe ’samÄn. “Why did you select Us, who are not equal to you?†Here ÅšrÄ«matÄ« Rukmiṇī-devÄ« says that she and Kṛṣṇa are certainly not equal, for no one can be equal to the Supreme Lord. ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« further points out that in her extreme humility Rukmiṇī is identifying herself with the Lord’s external energy, which in fact is her expansion, Rukmiṇī being the goddess of fortune.
