Courtesy: Smt.Saroja Ramanujam
Bheeshmaka ,the king of Vidharbha thought she was his daughter and his son Rukmi considered her as his sister out of delusion because she is the divine consort of the Lord, the mother of all beings, including Brahma, and birth-less.
Almost the whole chapter has been dedicated to the description of Rukmini, since to Desika, a paramavaishnava, thayar, the divine mother, is more praiseworthy than even the Lord Himself, she being the personification of His mercy.
All the virtues found an ideal abode in her where they will be uncontaminated by faults and her form looked like the combination of the rays of the sun and the moon or of gold and gems, because her lustre was like a lightning.
She grew up more and more beautiful as though wishing to delight Krishna for whom she has taken birth. Her playful activities were non-cognisable except by the subtlest intellects, says Desika, 'adhrsyabhEdhaih athisookshmabhAvAth jajnE jaganmangalathAm dhaDHAnaih.' and they were conferring blessings on the whole world. The celestial damsels showered flowers on her and thus her desire of playing in the dust, as is usual for children, was fulfilled by the pollen of the flowers which fell on her. Desika says that being apAmsula, clean and pure, her wish to play in dust,pAmsu vihAra vAncchA, is satisfied only in this manner.
Rukmini attained her youth which was like the moon free from the clouds, the natural intellect combined with scriptural knowledge and the unerring and fruitful justice. 'niSena chandhrENa ghanavyapAyE,naisargikee buddhiriva SruthEna;phalena sa neethiriva apramAdhA yukthA babhou noothana youvanEna.' She seemed to be a golden lotus that manifested at the time of the appearance of Lakshmi from the milky ocean.
Desika, not satisfied by the objects of comparison for her beauty finds comfort in the thought that comparing something which is inferior only extols the glory of the thing compared. Appayya dikshitha commenting on the line says,
Just as the Brahman is compared with Akasa as in the text 'He is eternal and all pervading like the Akasa,' when there is nothing equal to the subject , even comparing with an inferior object is a merit as it denoted the incomparable nature of the subject.
But Desika continues to describe Rukimini kesadhipadhantham as Narayana bhattadhri described the form of Narasimha, after saying that it defies description, in his Narayaneeyam.
She reached the marriageable age and her mind has gone to Krishna already. When her friends asked her about the bridegroom she had in her mind she bent her head with shyness as though by looking at herself she indicated that the one in her heart is her counterpart.'asoochayan noonam anEna thasyAH svalakshaNam Sourim ananya lakshyam.'
Desika differs from the account of Srimadbhagavatham where it is mentioned that Rukmini sent a letter to Krishna, in the the famous passage, 'SruthvA guNAn bhuvanasundhara,' etc. in as much as he never refers to it at all. His idea may be that as soon as the devotee thinks of the Lord earnestly He makes His appearance Himself because residing in the heart as the real self He need not be told about the wishes of the devotees
According to Srimadbhagavtham,
Rukmini heard about Krishna from travellers and wanted to marry him. But Rukmi , her brother,planned to get her married to Sisupala, the king of Chedhi and cousin of Krishna. Knowing that Rukmini sent an old Brahmin to Dvraka with a message.
Sruthvaa guNaan bhuvansundhara SrNvathaam the
nirdhiSya karNavivaraiH haratho angathaapam
roopam dhrSaam dhrssimathaam akhilaarTha laabham
thvayyachyutha visathi chittham apathrapam me
Oh Achutha, my mind, without trepidation, goes to you, who removes the suffering by entering the heart of those who hear about your merits and whose form seen, gives all benefits to those with eyes.
kaa thvaa mukundha mahathee kulaSeela roopa
vidhyaa vayo dhraviNa DhaamabhiH aathmathulyam
Dheearaa pathim kulavathee na vrNeetha kanyaa
Kale nrsimha naralokamanobhiraamam
Mukundha, the lion among men, which damsel, who is virtuous, meritorious and beautiful, born in good clan, and wise , will not choose you as her husband , who is suitable to her with appearance , learning, youthfulness, prosperity and glorious?
thanme bhavaan khalu vrthaH pathirangajaayaam
aathmaarpithaScha bhavatho athravibho viDhehi
maaveerabhaagam abhimarsathuchaidhya aaraath
gomaayuvath mrgapather balim ambujaaksha
You have been chosen by me as my husband , oh lotus eyed one, and I have offerd myself to you.Therefore Oh dear Lord, accept me as your wife by coming here. Let not Sisupala touch me like the jackal taking what is due to the lion.
She said that her marriage with Sisupala is fixed on the next day and Krishna should come and take her away and marry her according to rakshasa tradition. She also suggested a way by which Krishna can do this without fighting with her relatives. She said that the bride would go to the temple of Gouri the previous day and Krishna should come there and take her away. She ended the message with a warning.
Yasyaanghripankaja rajah snapanam mahaanthaH
vaanChanthi umaapathiriva aathmathamopahatthyai
yarhi ambujaaksha na labheya bhavath prasaadham
jahyaami asoon vrathakrSaan sathajanmabhiH syaath
Oh Lotus eyed one, if I do not abtain your grace the dust of the feet of whom even Siva and others wish to bathe in to wash off their thamas, I will give up my life which is already emaciated with vows so that I will get your grace after even 100 lives.
The words of Rukimini "Let not Sisupala touch me like the jackal taking what is due to the lion, " can be compared to the words of Andal who says, 'vanidai vazum avvanavarkku maraiyavar vELviyi lvaguttha vavai, kAnidai thirivadhOr nari pugundhu kadappadhum mOppadhum Seivadhoppa,'meaning that to give her in marriage to a human being is like the offering consecrated for the devas by the vedic scholars being smelled and carried away by a fox that roams in the forest.
Krishna smiled at this and said,
"Just as Rukminee could not sleep with her mind engrossed on me so too I could not sleep in the night thinking about her."
Rukmini was decorated for the marriage with Sisupala, which was agreed upon by her brother Rukmi, Rukmini was thinking only of Krishna and the other chaste ladies blessed her for the fulfilment of her desire even without knowing her heart. She was taken to the temple of Indra and she prayed to the goddess for the fulfilment of her desire
Her left thigh and left eye throbbed to indicate that Krishna has come and the air was full of the fragrance of Tulasi and she heard the sound of Panchajanya.
Rukmini came out of the temple and saw Krishna. Her glances, says Desika, were like the garlands she placed on him as in svayamvara. It was like one made of lotus, lily and indheevara, a flower coloured indigo, because her eyes resembled all the three. He looked as the personification of the rasas, sringara, veera and adhbutha, the sentiments of love, valour and wonder and at the same time he surpassed all these and shone as something different from all these because he excelled all the rasas.
The friends of Rukmini seeing the couple resembled the celestial damsels because they were looking without batting their eyelids. Krishna was the moon for the chakora birds, meaning her eyes, and she appeared as the dawn for the lotus of his eyes. Chakora is a mythological bird believed to survive by the light of the moon. The lotuses similarly blossom at the arrival of dawn. Hence the comparison.
Krishna came near Rukmini and grasped her hand. Desika poetically describes that his hand looked like a bee desiring for the lotus of her face and her eyes became the bees for his lotus –face. Desika says that this incarnation of Rukmini excelled the others such as Sita in brilliance because she was going to give birth to the god of love himself as Pradhyumna.
The couple, who were bound to each other by their auspicious qualities, gave immense joy to the friends of Rukmini who thought that she was like a lioness being Haripriya, beloved to Lord Hari, (pun on the word hari which means both lion and Krishna) and hence unapproachable by the other kings who were like elephants in front of the lion, 'haripriyAm kesariNeem ivainAm dhurAsadhAm anyanrpadvipendhraih.
As Rama freed Sita from the rakshasas and took her in the pushpaka vimana Krishna carried Rukmini in his chariot in front of all the enemy kings. Desika describes Rukmini traveling with Krishna thus:
Just as the light of the Sun goes with him to the west Rukmini went towards the west to Dvaraka with Krishna who is the dispeller of the darkness of ignorance.
Srimadbhagavtham described the act thus.
Madhava, placing her on the chariot which was like Garuda , disregarding the assembly of kings, went along with Rama and others preceding him, like a lion carrying his prey from among the jackals.
Thus she seemed to proclaim her inseparable state with the Lord. Sita says in Sundarakanda 'ananyA rAghaveNAham bhAskareNa prabha yaThA,' I am inseparable from Rama as the light from the Sun. Lakshmi always accompanies the Lord as the Azvar puts it 'agalakillen enru iraiyum alarmEl mangai urai marbA.'
Sisupala to whom Rukmini was betrothed ran behind the lion of the yadhavas, carrying Rukmini like his lioness, hollering like a jackal and Rukmi, the brother of Rukmini pursued Krishna with the intention of avenging the insult to his friends. But Krishna vanquished him and carried Rukmini off to Dvaraka.
The next episode will depict Rukmini kalyanam as described by deiska in yadhvabhyudhayam .Srimadbhagavatham simply says that Krishna brought Rukmini to Dvaraka and married her and the whole Dvaraka was in festival mood and all celebrated the marriage joyfully, andthen goes on to describe the birth or Pradhyumna. It is left to Desika to describe the marriage and their entry into Dvaraka in full glory.
We shall also see briefly krishna's marriage with Sathyabhama , Jambavati and another five and that will be the end of this series. Desika's Gopaa visati will follow then.
Almost the whole chapter has been dedicated to the description of Rukmini, since to Desika, a paramavaishnava, thayar, the divine mother, is more praiseworthy than even the Lord Himself, she being the personification of His mercy.
All the virtues found an ideal abode in her where they will be uncontaminated by faults and her form looked like the combination of the rays of the sun and the moon or of gold and gems, because her lustre was like a lightning.
She grew up more and more beautiful as though wishing to delight Krishna for whom she has taken birth. Her playful activities were non-cognisable except by the subtlest intellects, says Desika, 'adhrsyabhEdhaih athisookshmabhAvAth jajnE jaganmangalathAm dhaDHAnaih.' and they were conferring blessings on the whole world. The celestial damsels showered flowers on her and thus her desire of playing in the dust, as is usual for children, was fulfilled by the pollen of the flowers which fell on her. Desika says that being apAmsula, clean and pure, her wish to play in dust,pAmsu vihAra vAncchA, is satisfied only in this manner.
Rukmini attained her youth which was like the moon free from the clouds, the natural intellect combined with scriptural knowledge and the unerring and fruitful justice. 'niSena chandhrENa ghanavyapAyE,naisargikee buddhiriva SruthEna;phalena sa neethiriva apramAdhA yukthA babhou noothana youvanEna.' She seemed to be a golden lotus that manifested at the time of the appearance of Lakshmi from the milky ocean.
Desika, not satisfied by the objects of comparison for her beauty finds comfort in the thought that comparing something which is inferior only extols the glory of the thing compared. Appayya dikshitha commenting on the line says,
Just as the Brahman is compared with Akasa as in the text 'He is eternal and all pervading like the Akasa,' when there is nothing equal to the subject , even comparing with an inferior object is a merit as it denoted the incomparable nature of the subject.
But Desika continues to describe Rukimini kesadhipadhantham as Narayana bhattadhri described the form of Narasimha, after saying that it defies description, in his Narayaneeyam.
She reached the marriageable age and her mind has gone to Krishna already. When her friends asked her about the bridegroom she had in her mind she bent her head with shyness as though by looking at herself she indicated that the one in her heart is her counterpart.'asoochayan noonam anEna thasyAH svalakshaNam Sourim ananya lakshyam.'
Desika differs from the account of Srimadbhagavatham where it is mentioned that Rukmini sent a letter to Krishna, in the the famous passage, 'SruthvA guNAn bhuvanasundhara,' etc. in as much as he never refers to it at all. His idea may be that as soon as the devotee thinks of the Lord earnestly He makes His appearance Himself because residing in the heart as the real self He need not be told about the wishes of the devotees
According to Srimadbhagavtham,
Rukmini heard about Krishna from travellers and wanted to marry him. But Rukmi , her brother,planned to get her married to Sisupala, the king of Chedhi and cousin of Krishna. Knowing that Rukmini sent an old Brahmin to Dvraka with a message.
Sruthvaa guNaan bhuvansundhara SrNvathaam the
nirdhiSya karNavivaraiH haratho angathaapam
roopam dhrSaam dhrssimathaam akhilaarTha laabham
thvayyachyutha visathi chittham apathrapam me
Oh Achutha, my mind, without trepidation, goes to you, who removes the suffering by entering the heart of those who hear about your merits and whose form seen, gives all benefits to those with eyes.
kaa thvaa mukundha mahathee kulaSeela roopa
vidhyaa vayo dhraviNa DhaamabhiH aathmathulyam
Dheearaa pathim kulavathee na vrNeetha kanyaa
Kale nrsimha naralokamanobhiraamam
Mukundha, the lion among men, which damsel, who is virtuous, meritorious and beautiful, born in good clan, and wise , will not choose you as her husband , who is suitable to her with appearance , learning, youthfulness, prosperity and glorious?
thanme bhavaan khalu vrthaH pathirangajaayaam
aathmaarpithaScha bhavatho athravibho viDhehi
maaveerabhaagam abhimarsathuchaidhya aaraath
gomaayuvath mrgapather balim ambujaaksha
You have been chosen by me as my husband , oh lotus eyed one, and I have offerd myself to you.Therefore Oh dear Lord, accept me as your wife by coming here. Let not Sisupala touch me like the jackal taking what is due to the lion.
She said that her marriage with Sisupala is fixed on the next day and Krishna should come and take her away and marry her according to rakshasa tradition. She also suggested a way by which Krishna can do this without fighting with her relatives. She said that the bride would go to the temple of Gouri the previous day and Krishna should come there and take her away. She ended the message with a warning.
Yasyaanghripankaja rajah snapanam mahaanthaH
vaanChanthi umaapathiriva aathmathamopahatthyai
yarhi ambujaaksha na labheya bhavath prasaadham
jahyaami asoon vrathakrSaan sathajanmabhiH syaath
Oh Lotus eyed one, if I do not abtain your grace the dust of the feet of whom even Siva and others wish to bathe in to wash off their thamas, I will give up my life which is already emaciated with vows so that I will get your grace after even 100 lives.
The words of Rukimini "Let not Sisupala touch me like the jackal taking what is due to the lion, " can be compared to the words of Andal who says, 'vanidai vazum avvanavarkku maraiyavar vELviyi lvaguttha vavai, kAnidai thirivadhOr nari pugundhu kadappadhum mOppadhum Seivadhoppa,'meaning that to give her in marriage to a human being is like the offering consecrated for the devas by the vedic scholars being smelled and carried away by a fox that roams in the forest.
Krishna smiled at this and said,
"Just as Rukminee could not sleep with her mind engrossed on me so too I could not sleep in the night thinking about her."
Rukmini was decorated for the marriage with Sisupala, which was agreed upon by her brother Rukmi, Rukmini was thinking only of Krishna and the other chaste ladies blessed her for the fulfilment of her desire even without knowing her heart. She was taken to the temple of Indra and she prayed to the goddess for the fulfilment of her desire
Her left thigh and left eye throbbed to indicate that Krishna has come and the air was full of the fragrance of Tulasi and she heard the sound of Panchajanya.
Rukmini came out of the temple and saw Krishna. Her glances, says Desika, were like the garlands she placed on him as in svayamvara. It was like one made of lotus, lily and indheevara, a flower coloured indigo, because her eyes resembled all the three. He looked as the personification of the rasas, sringara, veera and adhbutha, the sentiments of love, valour and wonder and at the same time he surpassed all these and shone as something different from all these because he excelled all the rasas.
The friends of Rukmini seeing the couple resembled the celestial damsels because they were looking without batting their eyelids. Krishna was the moon for the chakora birds, meaning her eyes, and she appeared as the dawn for the lotus of his eyes. Chakora is a mythological bird believed to survive by the light of the moon. The lotuses similarly blossom at the arrival of dawn. Hence the comparison.
Krishna came near Rukmini and grasped her hand. Desika poetically describes that his hand looked like a bee desiring for the lotus of her face and her eyes became the bees for his lotus –face. Desika says that this incarnation of Rukmini excelled the others such as Sita in brilliance because she was going to give birth to the god of love himself as Pradhyumna.
The couple, who were bound to each other by their auspicious qualities, gave immense joy to the friends of Rukmini who thought that she was like a lioness being Haripriya, beloved to Lord Hari, (pun on the word hari which means both lion and Krishna) and hence unapproachable by the other kings who were like elephants in front of the lion, 'haripriyAm kesariNeem ivainAm dhurAsadhAm anyanrpadvipendhraih.
As Rama freed Sita from the rakshasas and took her in the pushpaka vimana Krishna carried Rukmini in his chariot in front of all the enemy kings. Desika describes Rukmini traveling with Krishna thus:
Just as the light of the Sun goes with him to the west Rukmini went towards the west to Dvaraka with Krishna who is the dispeller of the darkness of ignorance.
Srimadbhagavtham described the act thus.
Madhava, placing her on the chariot which was like Garuda , disregarding the assembly of kings, went along with Rama and others preceding him, like a lion carrying his prey from among the jackals.
Thus she seemed to proclaim her inseparable state with the Lord. Sita says in Sundarakanda 'ananyA rAghaveNAham bhAskareNa prabha yaThA,' I am inseparable from Rama as the light from the Sun. Lakshmi always accompanies the Lord as the Azvar puts it 'agalakillen enru iraiyum alarmEl mangai urai marbA.'
Sisupala to whom Rukmini was betrothed ran behind the lion of the yadhavas, carrying Rukmini like his lioness, hollering like a jackal and Rukmi, the brother of Rukmini pursued Krishna with the intention of avenging the insult to his friends. But Krishna vanquished him and carried Rukmini off to Dvaraka.
The next episode will depict Rukmini kalyanam as described by deiska in yadhvabhyudhayam .Srimadbhagavatham simply says that Krishna brought Rukmini to Dvaraka and married her and the whole Dvaraka was in festival mood and all celebrated the marriage joyfully, andthen goes on to describe the birth or Pradhyumna. It is left to Desika to describe the marriage and their entry into Dvaraka in full glory.
We shall also see briefly krishna's marriage with Sathyabhama , Jambavati and another five and that will be the end of this series. Desika's Gopaa visati will follow then.
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