taá¹ cÄpi jitavÄn rÄmo
dharmeṇa chalam ÄÅ›ritaḥ
rukmÄ« jitaá¹ mayÄtreme
vadantu prÄÅ›nikÄ iti
tam - that; ca api - also; jitavÄn - won; rÄmaḥ - Lord BalarÄma; dharmeṇa - fairly; chalam - deceit; ÄÅ›ritaḥ - resorting to; rukmÄ« - RukmÄ«; jitam - won; mayÄ - by me; atra - in this regard; ime - these; vadantu - may speak; prÄÅ›nikÄḥ - witnesses; iti - thus.
Lord BalarÄma fairly won this wager also, but RukmÄ« again resorted to cheating and declared, “I have won! Let these witnesses here say what they saw.â€
Rukmī undoubtedly had his friends in mind when he called for the witnesses to speak. But even as his witnesses prepared to aid their cheating friend, a wonderful event took place, as described in the next verse.
