tvaá¹ nyasta-daṇá¸a-munibhir gaditÄnubhÄva
ÄtmÄtma-daÅ› ca jagatÄm iti me vá¹›to 'si
hitvÄ bhavad-bhruva udÄ«rita-kÄla-vega-
dhvastÄÅ›iá¹£o 'bja-bhava-nÄka-patÄ«n kuto 'nye

 tvam - You; nyasta - who have renounced; daṇá¸a - the sannyÄsÄ«'s staff; munibhiḥ - by sages; gadita - spoken of; anubhÄvaḥ - whose prowess; ÄtmÄ - the Supreme Soul; ÄtmÄ - Your own self; daḥ - who give away; ca - also; jagatÄm - of all the worlds; iti - thus; me - by me; vá¹›taḥ - chosen; asi - You have been; hitvÄ - rejecting; bhavat - Your; bhruvaḥ - from the eyebrows; udÄ«rita - generated; kÄla - of time; vega - by the impulses; dhvasta - destroyed; ÄÅ›iá¹£aḥ - whose hopes; abja - lotus-born (Lord BrahmÄ); bhava - Lord Åšiva; nÄka - of heaven; patÄ«n - the masters; kutaḥ - what then of; anye - others.


Text

Knowing that great sages who have renounced the sannyÄsī’s daṇá¸a proclaim Your glories, that You are the Supreme Soul of all the worlds, and that You are so gracious that You give away even Your own self, I chose You as my husband, rejecting Lord BrahmÄ, Lord Åšiva and the rulers of heaven, whose aspirations are all frustrated by the force of time, which is born from Your eyebrows. What interest, then, could I have in any other suitors?

Purport

This is Queen Rukmiṇī’s refutation of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s statement in text 16. There the Lord Kṛṣṇa said, bhiká¹£ubhiḥ Å›lÄghitÄ mudhÄ: “I am glorified by beggars.†But Queen Rukmiṇī points out that those so-called beggars are actually sages in the paramahaá¹sa stage of life — sannyÄsÄ«s who have reached the highest level of spiritual advancement and thus given up the sannyÄsÄ« rod. Lord Kṛṣṇa also made two specific accusations against His wife in text 16. He said, vaidarbhy etad avijñÄya — “My dear VaidarbhÄ«, you were not aware of the situation†— and tvayÄdÄ«rgha-samÄ«ká¹£ayÄ â€” “because you lack foresight.†In the present verse, Rukmiṇī’s statement iti me vá¹›to ’si indicates “I chose You as my husband because You possess the above-mentioned qualities. It was not a blind choice at all.†Rukmiṇī further mentions that she passed over lesser personalities like BrahmÄ, Åšiva and the rulers of heaven because she saw that even though, materially speaking, they are great personalities, they are frustrated by the powerful waves of time, which emanate from the eyebrows of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, far from lacking foresight, Rukmiṇī chose Lord Kṛṣṇa after an exhaustive appraisal of the entire cosmic situation. Thus she lovingly rebukes her husband here.

ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« interprets Rukmiṇī’s mood as follows: “My dear husband, Your accusation that I lack foresight indicates that You did know of my deep insight into the situation. Actually, I chose You because I knew of Your true glories.â€