yad-vÄñchayÄ ná¹›pa-Å›ikhÄmaṇayo 'nga-vainya-
jÄyanta-nÄhuá¹£a-gayÄdaya aikya-patyam
rÄjyaá¹ visá¹›jya viviÅ›ur vanam ambujÄká¹£a
sÄ«danti te 'nupadavīṠta ihÄsthitÄḥ kim

 yat - for whom; vÄñchayÄ - out of desire; ná¹›pa - of kings; Å›ikhÄmaṇayaḥ - the crown jewels; aá¹…ga-vainya-jÄyanta-nÄhuá¹£a-gaya-Ädayaḥ - Aá¹…ga (the father of Vena), Vainya (Pá¹›thu, the son of Vena), JÄyanta (Bharata), NÄhuá¹£a (YayÄti), Gaya and others; aikya - exclusive; patyam - having sovereignty; rÄjyam - their kingdoms; visá¹›jya - abandoning; viviÅ›uḥ - entered; vanam - the forest; ambuja-aká¹£a - O lotus-eyed one; sÄ«danti - suffer frustration; te - Your; anupadavÄ«m - on the path; te - they; iha - in this world; ÄsthitÄḥ - fixed; kim - whether.


Text

Wanting Your association, the best of kings — Aá¹…ga, Vainya, JÄyanta, NÄhuá¹£a, Gaya and others — abandoned their absolute sovereignty and entered the forest to seek You out. How could those kings suffer frustration in this world, O lotus-eyed one?

Purport

Here Queen Rukmiṇī refutes the ideas put forth by Lord Kṛṣṇa in text 13. In fact ÅšrÄ«matÄ« Rukmiṇī-devÄ« repeats Lord Kṛṣṇa’s own words. The Lord said, ÄsthitÄḥ padavīṠsu-bhru prÄyaḥ sÄ«danti yoá¹£itaḥ: “Women who follow My path generally suffer.†Here Rukmiṇī-devÄ« says, sÄ«danti te ’nupadavīṠta ihÄsthitÄḥ kim: “Why should those fixed on Your path suffer in this world?†She gives the example of many great kings who renounced their powerful sovereignty to enter the forest, where they performed austerities and worshiped the Lord, intensely desiring His transcendental association. Thus, according to ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ«, ÅšrÄ«matÄ« Rukmiṇī-devÄ« here intends to tell ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa, “You have said that I, a king’s daughter, am unintelligent and frustrated because I married You. But how can You accuse all these great enlightened kings of being unintelligent? They were the wisest of men, yet they gave up everything to follow You and were certainly not frustrated by the result. Indeed, they achieved the perfection of Your association.â€