tasyÄḥ syur acyuta ná¹›pÄ bhavatopadiá¹£á¹Äḥ
strīṇÄá¹ gá¹›heá¹£u khara-go-Å›va-viá¸Äla-bhá¹›tyÄḥ
yat-karṇa-mÅ«lam an-kará¹£aṇa nopayÄyÄd
yuá¹£mat-kathÄ má¹›á¸a-viriñca-sabhÄsu gÄ«tÄ
tasyÄḥ - of her; syuḥ - let them become (the husbands); acyuta - O infallible Kṛṣṇa; ná¹›pÄḥ - kings; bhavatÄ - by You; upadiá¹£á¹Äḥ - mentioned; strīṇÄm - of women; gá¹›heá¹£u - in the homes; khara - as asses; go - oxen; Å›va - dogs; viá¸Äla - cats; bhá¹›tyÄḥ - and slaves; yat - whose; karṇa - of the ear; mÅ«lam - the core; ari - Your enemies; kará¹£aṇa - O You who vex; na - never; upayÄyÄt - come near; yuá¹£mat - concerning You; kathÄ - discussions; má¹›á¸a - of Lord Åšiva; viriñca - and Lord BrahmÄ; sabhÄsu - in the scholarly assemblies; gÄ«tÄ - sung.
O infallible Kṛṣṇa, let each of the kings You named become the husband of a woman whose ears have never heard Your glories, which are sung in the assemblies of Åšiva and BrahmÄ. After all, in the households of such women these kings live like asses, oxen, dogs, cats and slaves.
According to ÅšrÄ«la ÅšrÄ«dhara SvÄmÄ«, these fiery words of Queen Rukmiṇī’s are a response to Lord Kṛṣṇa’s opening statement, found in text 10 of the chapter. The Supreme Lord had said, “My dear princess, You were sought after by many kings as powerful as the rulers of planets. They were all abundantly endowed with political influence, wealth, beauty, generosity and physical strength.†According to ÅšrÄ«dhara SvÄmÄ«, Queen Rukmiṇī here speaks with anger, pointing her index finger at the Lord. She compares the so-called great princes to asses because they carry many material burdens, to oxen because they are always distressed while performing their occupational duties, to dogs because their wives disrespect them, to cats because they are selfish and cruel, and to slaves because they are servile in family affairs. Such kings may appear desirable to a foolish woman who has not heard or understood the glories of ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa.
ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« adds that such kings are like asses because their wives sometimes kick them, like dogs because they behave inimically toward outsiders in order to protect their homes, and like cats because they eat the remnants left by their wives.
