kānyaḿ śrayeta tava pāda-saroja-gandham
āghrāya san-mukharitaḿ janatāpavargam
lakṣmy-ālayaḿ tv avigaṇayya guṇālayasya
martyā sadoru-bhayam artha-viviita-dṛṣṭiḥ
ka -- what woman; anyam -- another man; srayeta -- would take shelter of; tava -- Your; pada -- of the feet; saroja -- of the lotus; gandham -- the aroma; aghraya -- having smelled; sat -- by great saints; mukharitam -- described; janata -- for all people; apavargam -- bestowing liberation; lakshmi -- of the goddess of fortune; alayam -- the place of residence; tu -- but; aviganayya -- not taking seriously; guna -- of all transcendental qualities; alayasya -- of the abode; martya -- mortal; sada -- always; uru -- great; bhayam -- one who has fear; artha -- her best interest; vivikta -- ascertaining; drishtih -- whose insight.
The aroma of Your lotus feet, which is glorified by great saints, awards people liberation and is the abode of Goddess Lakshmi. What woman would take shelter of any other man after savoring that aroma? Since You are the abode of transcendental qualities, what mortal woman with the insight to distinguish her own true interest would disregard that fragrance and depend instead on someone who is always subject to terrible fear?
In Text 16 Lord Krishna claimed that He was gunair hinah, "bereft of all good qualities." To refute this claim, the devoted Rukmini here states that the Lord is gunalaya, "the abode of all good qualities." In a single moment the so-called powerful men of this world can be reduced to utter helplessness and confusion. Indeed, destruction is the inevitable fate of all powerful masculine bodies. The Lord, however, has an eternal, spiritual body that is omnipotent and infinitely beautiful, and thus, as Queen Rukmini argues here, how could any sane, enlightened woman take shelter of anyone but the Supreme Lord, Krishna?
