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KB 1970-1-51 / Krsna, the Ranchor
51 / Krsna, the Ranchor
When Mucukunda, the celebrated descendant of the Iksvaku
dynasty, was favored by Lord Krsna, he circumambulated the Lord
within the cave and then came out. On coming out of the cave,
Mucukunda saw that the stature of the human species had
surprisingly been reduced to pigmy size. Similarly,
the trees had also far reduced in size, and Mucukunda
could immediately understand that the current age was Kali-yuga.
Therefore, without diverting his attention, he began to travel
north. Eventually he reached the mountain known as Gandhamadana.
It appeared there were many trees on this mountain, such as
sandalwood and other flower trees, the flavor of which
made anyone joyful who reached them. He decided to
remain in that Gandhamadana Mountain region in order to execute
austerities and penances for the rest of his life. It appears
that this place is situated in the northernmost part of the
Himalayan Mountains, where the abode of Nara-Narayana is
situated. This place is still existing and is called
Badarikasrama. In Badarikasrama he engaged himself in the
worship of Lord Krsna, forgetting all pain and
pleasure and the other dualities of this material world. Lord
Krsna also returned to the vicinity of the city of Mathura and
began to fight with the soldiers of Kalayavana and kill them
one after another. After this, He collected all the booty from
the dead bodies, and under His direction, it was loaded on
bullock carts by big men and brought back to Dvaraka.
Meanwhile, Jarasandha again attacked Mathura, this time with
bigger divisions of soldiers, numbering twenty-three aksauhinis.
Lord Sri Krsna wanted to save Mathura from the eighteenth
attack of the great military divisions of King Jarasandha. In
order to prevent further killing of soldiers and to attend to
other important business, Lord Krsna left the battlefield
without fighting. Actually He was not at all afraid, but He
pretended to be an ordinary human being frightened by the
immense quantity of soldiers and resources of Jarasandha.
Without any weapons He left the battlefield. Although His
lotus feet were as soft as the petals of the lotus flower, He
proceeded for a very long distance on foot.
This time, Jarasandha thought that Krsna and Balarama were very
much afraid of His military strength and were fleeing from the
battlefield. He began to follow Them with all his chariots,
horses and infantry. He thought Krsna and Balarama to be
ordinary human beings, and he was trying to measure the
activities of the Lord. Krsna is known as
Ranchor, which means "one who has left the battlefield." In
India, especially in Gujarat, there are many temples of Krsna
which are known as temples of Ranchorji. Ordinarily, if a king
leaves the battlefield without fighting he is called a coward,
but when Krsna enacts this pastime, leaving the battlefield
without fighting, He is worshiped by the devotee. A demon
always tries to measure the opulence of Krsna, whereas the
devotee never tries to measure His strength and opulence, but
always surrenders unto Him and worships Him. By following
the footsteps of pure devotees we can know that Krsna, the
Ranchorji, did not leave the battlefield because He was
afraid, but because He had some other purpose. The purpose, as
it will be revealed, was to attend to a confidential letter
sent by Rukmini, His future first wife. The act of Krsna's
leaving the battlefield is a display of one of His six
opulences. Krsna is the supreme powerful, the supreme wealthy,
the supreme famous, the supreme wise, the supreme beautiful;
similarly He is the supreme renouncer. Srimad-Bhagavatam
clearly states that He left the battlefield in spite of having
ample military strength. Even without His militia, however, He
alone would have been sufficient to defeat the army of
Jarasandha, as He had done seventeen times before. Therefore,
His leaving the battlefield is an example of His supermost
opulence of renunciation.
After traversing a very long distance, the brothers pretended
to become very tired. To mitigate Their weariness They climbed
up a very high mountain several miles above sea level. This
mountain was called Pravarsana due to constant rain. The
peak was always covered with clouds sent by Indra. Jarasandha
took it for granted that the two brothers were afraid of his
military power and had hidden Themselves at the top of the
mountain. First he tried to find Them, searching for a long
time, but when he failed he decided to trap and kill Them by
setting fires around the peak. He therefore surrounded the peak
with oil and set it on fire. As the blaze spread more
and more, Krsna and Balarama jumped from the top of the
mountain down to the ground -- a distance of eighty-eight miles.
Thus, while the peak was burning up, Krsna and Balarama
escaped without being seen by Jarasandha.
Jarasandha concluded that the two brothers had been burned to
ashes and that there was no need of further fighting. Thinking
himself successful in his efforts, he left the city of Mathura
and returned to his home in the kingdom of Magadha. Gradually
Krsna and Balarama reached the city of Dvaraka, which was
surrounded on all sides by the sea.
Following this, Sri Balarama married Revati, daughter of King
Raivata, ruler of the Anarta province. This is explained in the
Ninth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. After the marriage of
Baladeva, Krsna married Rukmini. Rukmini was the daughter of
King Bhismaka, ruler of the province known as Vidarbha. Just as
Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva, Rukmini
is the supreme goddess of fortune, Maha-Laksmi. According to
the authority of Caitanya-caritamrta, the expansion of
Krsna and Sri Radharani is simultaneous; Krsna
expands Himself into various Visnu-tattva forms, and Srimati
Radharani expands Herself into various sakti-tattva forms by
Her internal potency, as multi-forms of the goddess of
fortune.
According to Vedic convention, there are eight kinds of
marriages. In the first-class marriage system, the parents of
the bride and bridegroom arrange the marriage date. Then, in
royal style, the bridegroom goes to the house of the bride, and
in the presence of brahmanas, priests and relatives, the bride
is given in charity to the bridegroom. Besides this, there are
other systems, such as the gandharva and raksasa marriages.
Rukmini was married to Krsna in the raksasa style
because she was kidnapped by Him the presence of His many
rivals, like Sisupala, Jarasandha, Salva and others. While
Rukmini was being given in charity to Sisupala, she was
snatched from the marriage arena by Krsna, exactly as
Garuda snatched the pot of nectar from the demons. Rukmini,
the only daughter of King Bhismaka, was exquisitely beautiful.
She was known as Ruciranana, which means "one who has a
beautiful face, expanding like a lotus flower."
Devotees of Krsna are always anxious to hear about the
transcendental activities of the Lord. His activities of
fighting, kidnapping and running away from the battlefield are
all transcendental, being on the absolute platform, and
devotees take a transcendental interest in hearing of them. The
pure devotee does not make the distinction that some activities
of the Lord should be heard and others should be avoided. There
is, however, a class of so-called devotees known as prakrta
sahajiya who are very interested in hearing about Krsna's
rasa-lila with the gopis, but not about His fighting activities
with His enemies. They do not know that His bellicose
activities and His friendly activities with the gopis are
equally transcendental, being on the absolute platform. The
transcendental pastimes of Krsna described in the Srimad-
Bhagavatam are relished by pure devotees through submissive
aural reception. They do not reject even a drop.
The story of Krsna's marriage with Rukmini is described as
follows. The King of Vidarbha, Maharaja Bhismaka, was a very
qualified and devoted prince. He had five sons and only one
daughter. The first son was known as Rukmi; the second,
Rukmaratha; the third, Rukmabahu; the fourth and youngest,
Rukmakesa; and the fifth, Rukmamali. The brothers had one young
sister, Rukmini. She was beautiful and chaste and was meant to
be married to Lord Krsna. Many saintly persons and sages like
Narada Muni and others used to visit the palace of King
Bhismaka. Naturally Rukmini had a chance to talk with them, and
in this way she obtained information about Krsna. She was
informed about the six opulences of Krsna, and simply by
hearing about Him, she desired to surrender herself to His
lotus feet and become His wife. Krsna had also heard of Rukmini.
She was the reservoir of all transcendental qualities:
intelligence, liberal-mindedness,
exquisite beauty and righteous behavior. Krsna therefore
decided that she was fit to be His wife. All of the family
members and relatives of King Bhismaka decided that Rukmini
should be given in marriage to Krsna. However her elder brother,
Rukmi, despite the desire of the others, arranged for her
marriage with Sisupala, a determined enemy of Krsna. When the
black-eyed, beautiful Rukmini heard the settlement, she
immediately became very morose. However, being a king's
daughter, she understood political diplomacy and decided that
there was no use in simply being morose. Some steps should be
taken immediately. After some deliberation, she decided to send
a message to Krsna, and so that she might not be deceived, she
selected a qualified brahmana as her messenger. Such a
qualified brahmana is always truthful and is a devotee of Visnu.
Without delay, the brahmana was sent to Dvaraka.
Reaching the gate of Dvaraka, the brahmana informed the
doorkeeper of his arrival, and the doorkeeper led him to the
place where Krsna was sitting on a golden throne. Since the
brahmana had the opportunity of being Rukmini's messenger, he
was fortunate enough to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Krsna, who is the original cause of all causes. A brahmana is
the spiritual teacher of all the social divisions. Lord Sri
Krsna, in order to teach everyone the Vedic etiquette of how to
respect a brahmana, immediately got up and offered him His
throne. When the brahmana was seated on the golden throne, Lord
Sri Krsna began to worship him exactly in the manner in which
the demigods worship Krsna. In this way, He taught everyone
that worshiping His devotee is more valuable than worshiping
Himself.
In due time, the brahmana took his bath, accepted his meals and
took to rest on a bedstead completely bedecked with soft
silk. As he was resting, Lord Sri Krsna silently approached and,
with great respect, put the brahmana's legs on His lap and
began to massage them. In this way, Krsna appeared before the
brahmana and said, "My dear brahmana, I hope that you are
executing the religious principles without any difficulty and
that your mind is always in a peaceful condition." Different
classes of people in the social system are engaged in various
professions, and when one inquires as to the well-being of a
particular person, it must be done on the basis of that
person's occupation. Therefore, when one inquires as to the
welfare of a brahmana, the questions should be worded according
to his condition of life so as not to disturb him. A peaceful
mind is the basis for becoming truthful, clean, equipoised,
self-controlled and tolerant. Thus by attaining knowledge and
knowing its practical application in life, one becomes
convinced about the Absolute Truth. The brahmana knew Krsna to
be the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and still he accepted
the respectful service of the Lord on the grounds of Vedic
social convention. Lord Sri Krsna was playing just like a human
being. Belonging to the ksatriya division of the
social system, and being a young boy, it was His duty to show
respect to such a brahmana.
Lord Krsna continued: "O best of all the brahmanas, you should
always remain satisfied because if a brahmana is always self-
satisfied he will not deviate from his prescribed duties; and
simply by sticking to one's prescribed duties, everyone,
especially the brahmanas, can attain the highest perfection of
all desires. Even if a person is as opulent as the King of
heaven, Indra, if he is not satisfied he inevitably has to
transmigrate from one planet to another. Such a person can
never be happy under any circumstances; but if a person's
mind is satisfied, even if he is bereft of his high position,
he can be happy living anywhere and everywhere."
This instruction of Krsna to the brahmana is very significant.
The purport is that a true brahmana should not be disturbed in
any situation. In this modern age of Kali-yuga, the so-called
brahmanas have accepted the abominable position of the sudras
or less than sudras and still want to pass as qualified
brahmanas. Actually, a qualified brahmana always sticks to his
own duties and never accepts those of a sudra or of one less
than a sudra. It is advised in the authorized scriptures that a
brahmana may, under awkward circumstances, accept the
profession of a ksatriya or even a vaisya, but never is he to
accept the profession of a sudra. Lord Krsna declared that a
brahmana should never be disturbed by any adverse conditions of
life if he scrupulously sticks to his religious principles. In
conclusion, Lord Sri Krsna said: "I offer My respectful
obeisances to the brahmanas and Vaisnavas, because the
brahmanas are always self-satisfied, and the Vaisnavas are
always engaged in actual welfare activities for the human
society. They are the best friends of the people in general;
both are free from false egoism and are always in a peaceful
condition of mind."
Lord Krsna then desired to know about the rulers (ksatriyas) in
the brahmana's kingdom, so He inquired whether the citizens of
the kingdom were all happy. A king's qualification is judged by
the temperament of the people in the kingdom. If they are very
happy in all respects, it is to be understood that the king is
honest and executing his duties rightly. Krsna said that the
king in whose kingdom the citizens are happy is very dear to
Him. Of course Krsna could understand that the brahmana had
come with a confidential message; therefore He said, "If you
have no objection, I am giving you permission to speak about
your mission." Thus, being very satisfied by these
transcendental pastimes with the Lord, the brahmana narrated
the whole story of his mission to come and see Krsna. He got
out the letter which Rukmini had written to Krsna and said, "
These are the words of Princess Rukmini: 'My dear Krsna, O
infallible and most beautiful one, any human being who happens
to hear about Your transcendental form and pastimes immediately
absorbs through his ears Your name, fame and qualities; thus
all his material pangs subside, and he fixes Your form in his
heart. Through such transcendental love for You, he sees You
always within himself; and by this process all his desires
become fulfilled. Similarly, I have heard of Your
transcendental qualities. I may be shameless in expressing
myself so directly, but You have captivated me and taken my
heart. You may suspect that I am an unmarried girl, young in
age, and may dobut my steadiness of character, but my dear
Mukunda, You are the supreme lion among the human beings, the
supreme person among persons. Any girl, although not yet out of
her home, or any woman who may be of the highest chastity,
would desire to marry You, being captivated by Your
unprecedented character, knowledge, opulence and position. I
know that You are the husband of the goddess of fortune and
that You are very kind toward Your devotees; therefore I have
decided to become Your eternal maidservant. My dear Lord, I
dedicate my life and soul unto Your lotus feet. I have accepted
Your Lordship as my selected husband, and I therefore request
You to accept me as Your wife. You are the supreme powerful, O
lotus-eyed one. Now I belong to You. If that which is enjoyable
for the lion to eat is taken away by the jackal, it will be a
ludicrous affair; therefore I request You to immediately take
care of me before I am taken away by Sisupala and other princes
like him. My dear Lord, in my previous life I may have done
public welfare work like digging wells and growing trees, or
pious activities such as performing ritualistic ceremonies and
sacrifices and serving the superior spiritual master, the
brahmanas and Vaisnavas. By these activities, perhaps I have
pleased the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Narayana. If this
is so, then I wish that You, Lord Krsna, the brother of Lord
Balarama, would please come here and catch hold of my hand so
that I may not be touched by Sisupala and his company.'"
Rukmini's marriage
with Sisupala was already settled; therefore she
suggested that Krsna kidnap
her so that this might be changed. This
sort of marriage,
in which
the girl is kidnapped
by force
, is known as raksasa
and is practiced
among the ksatriyas, or
the administrative
, martial spirited type of men.
Because her marriage was already arranged to take place
the next day, Rukmini suggested that
Krsna come there incognito to kidnap her
and then fight with Sisupala and his
allies like the King of Magadha
. Knowing that no one could conquer
Krsna and that He would
certainly emerge victorious, she addressed Him
as Ajita -- the unconquerable
. Rukmini told Krsna not
to
be concerned that many
of her family members, including
other women,
might be wounded
or even killed if the
fighting took place within
the palace.
As the king of a country
thinks of diplomatic ways to achieve his object,
similarly Rukmini, being the daughter of
a king, was diplomatic in suggesting how this
unnecessary and undesirable killing could be
avoided.
She explained that it was the custom of her
family to visit the temple of the goddess
Durga, their family deity, before a marriage. (The ksatriya
kings were mostly staunch Vaisnavas, worshiping Lord Visnu in
either the Radha-Krsna or Laksmi-Narayana form; still, for
their material welfare they used to worship the
goddess Durga. They never made the mistake, however,
of accepting the demigods as the Supreme Lord on
the level of Visnu-tattva, as did some less
intelligent men.) In order to avoid the unnecessary
killing of her relatives, Rukmini suggested that it would
be easiest for Him to kidnap her while she was
either going from the palace to the temple
or else while she was returning home.
She also explained to Krsna why she was so anxious to be
married to Him, even though her marriage was to take place with
Sisupala, who was also qualified, being the son of a great king.
Rukmini said that she did not think anyone was greater than
Krsna, not even Lord Siva, who is known as Mahadeva, the
greatest of all demigods. Lord Siva also seeks the pleasure of
Lord Krsna in order to be delivered from his entanglement in
the quality of ignorance within the material world. In
spite of the fact that Lord Siva is the greatest of all great
souls, mahatmas, he keeps on his head the purifying water of
the Ganges, which emanates from a hole in this material
universe made by the toe of Lord Visnu. Lord Siva is in charge
of the material quality of ignorance, and in order to keep
himself in a transcendental position, he always meditates on
Lord Visnu
. Therefore Rukmini knew very well that
obtaining the favor of Krsna was not an easy job. If even
Lord Siva must purify himself for this purpose, surely it would
be difficult for Rukmini, who was only the daughter of a
ksatriya king. Thus she desired to dedicate her life to
observing severe austerities and penances, such as fasting and
going without bodily comforts. If it were not possible in this
lifetime to gain Krsna's favor by these activities, she was
prepared to do the same
lifetime after lifetime. In the Bhagavad-gita it
is said that pure devotees of the Lord execute devotional
service with great determination. Such determination, as
exhibited by Rukminidevi, is the only price for purchasing
Krsna's favor
and is the way to ultimate success in Krsna
consciousness.
After explaining Rukminidevi's statement to Krsna, the
brahmana said: "My dear Krsna, chief of the Yadu dynasty, I
have brought this confidential message for You from Rukmini;
now it is placed before You for Your consideration. After due
deliberation You can act as You please, but if You want to do
something, You must do it immediately. There is not much time
left for action."
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Fifty-first Chapter
of Krsna, "Krsna, the Ranchor."
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KB 52: Krsna, the Ranacora
CHAPTER FIFTY–TWO
Krsna, the Ranacora
When Mucukunda, the celebrated descendant of the Iksvaku
dynasty, was favored by Lord Krsna, he circumambulated the Lord
within the cave and then came out. On coming out of the cave,
Mucukunda saw that the human species had
surprisingly been reduced in stature to pygmy size. Similarly,
the trees had also been far reduced in size, and Mucukunda
could immediately understand that the current age was Kali-yuga.
Therefore, without diverting his attention, he began to travel
north. Eventually he reached the mountain known as Gandhamadana,
where there were many trees, such as
sandalwood and other flowering trees, whose fragrance
made anyone who reached them joyful. He decided to
remain in that Gandhamadana Mountain region to execute
austerities and penances for the rest of his life. It appears
that this place is situated in the northernmost part of the
Himalayan Mountains, where the abode of Nara-Narayana is
situated. This place is still existing and is called
Badarikasrama. In Badarikasrama he engaged himself in the
worship of Lord Krsna, tolerating all kinds of pains and
pleasures and the other dualities of this material world
.
Lord Krsna returned to the vicinity of Mathura, where He fought
with the soldiers of Kalayavana and killed them one after
another. After this, He collected all the booty from the dead
bodies, and under His direction it was loaded on bullock carts
and brought back to Dvaraka.
Meanwhile, Jarasandha again attacked Mathura, this time with
bigger divisions of soldiers, numbering twenty-three aksauhinis.
Lord Sri Krsna wanted to save Mathura from the eighteenth
attack of the great military divisions of King Jarasandha. To
prevent further killing of soldiers and to attend to
other important business, Lord Krsna left the battlefield
without fighting. Actually He was not at all afraid, but He
pretended to be an ordinary human being frightened by the
immense quantity of soldiers and resources of Jarasandha.
Without any weapons Krsna left the battlefield. Although His
lotus feet were as soft as the petals of a lotus flower, He
proceeded for a very long distance on foot.
This time, Jarasandha thought that Krsna and Balarama were very
much afraid of his military strength and were fleeing the
battlefield. He followed Them with all his chariots,
horses and infantry. He thought Krsna and Balarama to be
ordinary human beings, and he was trying to measure the
activities of the Lord. Due to this pastime Krsna is known as
Ranacora, which means "one who has left the battlefield." In
India, especially in Gujarat, there are many temples of Krsna
known as temples of Ranacoraji. Ordinarily, if a king
leaves the battlefield without fighting he is called a coward,
but when Krsna enacts this pastime, leaving the battlefield
without fighting, He is worshiped by the devotees. A demon
always tries to measure the opulence of Krsna, whereas a
devotee never tries to measure His strength and opulence but
always surrenders unto Him and worships Him. By following in
the footsteps of pure devotees, we can know that Krsna, the
Ranacoraji, left the battlefield not because He was
afraid but because He had some other purpose. The purpose, as
it will be revealed, was to attend to a confidential letter
sent by Rukmini, His future first wife. Krsna's
leaving the battlefield is a display of one of His six
opulences. Krsna is the supreme powerful, the supreme wealthy,
the supreme famous, the supreme wise and the supreme beautiful;
similarly, He is the supreme renouncer. Srimad-Bhagavatam
clearly states that He left the battlefield in spite of having
ample military strength. Even without His militia, He
alone would have been sufficient to defeat the army of
Jarasandha, as He had done seventeen times before. Therefore,
His leaving the battlefield is an example of His supermost
opulence, renunciation.
After traversing a very long distance, the brothers pretended
to become tired. To mitigate Their weariness, They climbed
up a mountain many miles above sea level. This
mountain was called Pravarsana due to constant rain, for the
peak was always covered with clouds sent by Indra. Jarasandha
took it for granted that the two brothers were afraid of his
military power and had hidden Themselves at the top of the
mountain. First he tried to find Them, searching for a long
time, but when he failed he decided to trap and kill Them by
setting fires around the peak. He therefore surrounded the peak
with firewood and set it ablaze. As the fire spread more
and more, Krsna and Balarama jumped from the top of the
mountain down to the ground -- a distance of eighty-eight miles.
Thus, while the peak was burning up, Krsna and Balarama
escaped, unseen by Jarasandha or his men.
Jarasandha concluded that the two brothers had burned to
ashes and that there was no need of further fighting. Thinking
himself successful in his efforts, he left the city of Mathura
and returned to his home in the kingdom of Magadha. Gradually
Krsna and Balarama reached the city of Dvaraka, which was
surrounded by the sea.
Following this, Sri Balarama married Revati, daughter of King
Raivata, ruler of Anarta Province. This is explained in the
Ninth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. After the marriage of
Baladeva, Krsna married Rukmini. Rukmini was the daughter of
King Bhismaka, ruler of the province known as Vidarbha. Just as
Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva, Rukmini
is the supreme goddess of fortune, Maha-Laksmi. According to
the authority of the Caitanya-caritamrta, the expansion of
Krsna and that of Srimati Radharani are simultaneous: Krsna
expands Himself into various visnu-tattva forms, and Srimati
Radharani expands Herself into various sakti-tattva forms, by
Her internal potency, as multiforms of the goddess of
fortune.
According to Vedic convention, there are eight kinds of
marriage. In the first-class marriage system, the parents of
the bride and bridegroom arrange the marriage date. Then, in
royal style, the bridegroom goes to the house of the bride, and
in the presence of brahmanas, priests and relatives, the bride
is given in charity to the bridegroom. Besides this, there are
other systems, such as the gandharva and raksasa marriages.
Krsna married Rukmini according to the raksasa system,
kidnapping her in the presence of His many
rivals, like Sisupala, Jarasandha and Salva. While
Rukmini was being given in charity to Sisupala, Krsna
snatched her from the marriage arena exactly as
Garuda snatched a pot of nectar from the demigods. Rukmini,
the only daughter of King Bhismaka, was exquisitely beautiful.
She was known as Ruciranana, which means "one who has a
beautiful face expanded like a lotus flower."
Devotees of Krsna are always eager to hear about the
transcendental activities of the Lord. His activities of
fighting, kidnapping and running away from the battlefield are
all transcendental, being on the absolute platform, and
devotees take a transcendental interest in hearing of them. The
pure devotee does not make the distinction that some activities
of the Lord should be heard and others avoided. There
is, however, a class of so-called devotees known as prakrta-
sahajiyas who are very much interested in hearing about Krsna's
rasa-lila with the gopis but not about His fighting
with His enemies. They do not know that His bellicose
activities and His friendly activities with the gopis are
equally transcendental, being on the absolute platform. All the
transcendental pastimes of Krsna described in Srimad-
Bhagavatam are relished by pure devotees through submissive
aural reception. They do not reject even a drop.
The story of Krsna's marriage with Rukmini is described as
follows. The King of Vidarbha, Maharaja Bhismaka, was very
qualified and devoted. He had five sons and only one
daughter. The first son was known as Rukmi; the second,
Rukmaratha; the third, Rukmabahu; the fourth,
Rukmakesa; and the fifth, Rukmamali. The brothers had one young
sister, Rukmini. She was beautiful and chaste and was meant to
be married to Lord Krsna. Many saintly persons and sages like
Narada Muni used to visit the palace of King
Bhismaka. Naturally Rukmini had a chance to talk with them, and
in this way she obtained information about Krsna. She was
informed about the six opulences of Krsna, and simply by
hearing about Him she desired to surrender herself to His
lotus feet and become His wife. Krsna had also heard of Rukmini.
She was the reservoir of all transcendental qualities:
intelligence, auspicious physical features, liberal-mindedness,
exquisite beauty and righteous behavior. Krsna therefore
decided that she was fit to be His wife. All of the
relatives of King Bhismaka decided that Rukmini
should be given in marriage to Krsna. But her elder
brother Rukmi, despite the desire of the others, arranged for
her marriage with Sisupala, a determined enemy of Krsna. When
the black-eyed, beautiful Rukmini heard of the settlement, she
immediately became very morose. However, being a king's
daughter, she understood political diplomacy and decided that
there was no use in simply being morose. Some steps should be
taken immediately. After some deliberation, she decided to send
a message to Krsna, and so that she might not be deceived, she
selected a qualified brahmana as her messenger. Such a
qualified brahmana is always truthful and is a devotee of Visnu.
Without delay, she sent the brahmana to Dvaraka.
Reaching the gate of Dvaraka, the brahmana informed the
doorkeeper of his arrival, and the doorkeeper led him to the
place where Krsna was sitting on a golden throne. Since the
brahmana had the opportunity to be Rukmini's messenger, he
was fortunate enough to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead
Krsna, the original cause of all causes. A brahmana is
the spiritual teacher of all the social divisions. Lord Sri
Krsna, in order to teach everyone the Vedic etiquette of how to
respect a brahmana, immediately got up and offered him His
throne. When the brahmana was seated on the golden throne, Lord
Sri Krsna began to worship him exactly as
the demigods worship Krsna. In this way, He taught everyone
that worshiping His devotee is more valuable than worshiping
Him.
In due time, the brahmana took his bath, accepted his meals and
lay down to rest on a bedstead completely bedecked with soft
silk. As he was resting, Lord Sri Krsna silently approached and,
with great respect, put the brahmana's legs on His lap and
began to massage them. In this way, Krsna appeared before the
brahmana and said, "My dear brahmana, I hope that you are
executing the religious principles without difficulty and
that your mind is always peaceful." Different
classes of people in the social system are engaged in various
professions, and when one inquires as to the well-being of a
particular person, he should do so on the basis of that
person's occupation. Therefore, when one inquires as to the
welfare of a brahmana, the questions should be worded according
to his condition of life so as not to disturb him. A peaceful
mind is the basis for becoming truthful, clean, equipoised,
self-controlled and tolerant. Thus by attaining knowledge and
knowing its practical application in life, one becomes
convinced about the Absolute Truth. The brahmana knew Krsna to
be the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and still he accepted
the respectful service of the Lord on the grounds of Vedic
social convention. Lord Sri Krsna was playing just like a human
being. Because He belonged to the ksatriya division of the
social system and was a young boy, it was His duty to show
respect to such a brahmana.
Lord Krsna continued: "O best of all the brahmanas, you should
always remain satisfied, for if a brahmana is always self-
satisfied he will not deviate from his prescribed duties; and
simply by sticking to one's prescribed duties, everyone,
especially a brahmana, can attain the highest perfection of
all desires. Even if a person is as opulent as the King of
heaven, Indra, if he is not satisfied he inevitably has to
transmigrate from one planet to another. Such a person can
never be happy under any circumstances; but if one's
mind is satisfied, even if he is bereft of all possessions,
he can be happy living anywhere."
This instruction by Krsna to the brahmana is very significant.
The purport is that a true brahmana should not be disturbed in
any situation. In this modern age, Kali-yuga, the so-called
brahmanas have accepted the abominable position of sudras
or less and still want to pass as qualified
brahmanas. Actually, a qualified brahmana always sticks to his
own duties and never accepts those of a sudra or of one less
than a sudra. It is advised in the authorized scriptures that a
brahmana may, under awkward circumstances, accept the
profession of a ksatriya or even a vaisya, but never is he to
accept the profession of a sudra. Lord Krsna declared that a
brahmana will never be disturbed by any adverse conditions
if he scrupulously sticks to his religious principles. In
conclusion, Lord Sri Krsna said, "I offer My respectful
obeisances to the brahmanas and Vaisnavas, for the
brahmanas are always self-satisfied and the Vaisnavas are
always engaged in actual welfare activities for human
society. They are the best friends of the people in general;
they are free from false egoism and are always in a peaceful
condition of mind."
Lord Krsna then desired to know about the rulers (ksatriyas) in
the brahmana's kingdom, so He inquired whether the citizens of
the kingdom were all happy. A king's qualification is judged by
the temperament of the people in the kingdom. If they are
happy in all respects, it is to be understood that the king is
honest and is executing his duties rightly. Krsna said that the
king in whose kingdom the citizens are happy is very dear to
Him. Of course, Krsna could understand that the brahmana had
come with a confidential message; therefore He said, "If you
have no objection, I give you liberty to speak about
your mission."
Thus, being very much satisfied by these transcendental
pastimes with the Lord, the brahmana narrated the
whole story of his mission in coming to see Krsna. He
got out the letter Rukmini had written to Krsna and said, "
These are the words of Princess Rukmini: ‘My dear Krsna, O
infallible and most beautiful one, any human being who happens
to hear about Your transcendental form and pastimes immediately
absorbs through his ears Your name, fame and qualities; thus
all his material pangs subside, and he fixes Your form in his
heart. Through such transcendental love for You, he
always sees You within himself; and by this process all his
desires are fulfilled. Similarly, I have heard of Your
transcendental qualities. I may be shameless in expressing
myself directly, but You have captivated me and taken my
heart. You may doubt my steadiness of character, since how
could an unmarried young girl like me approach You without any
shame? But my dear Mukunda, You are the supreme lion
among human beings, the supreme person among persons.
Any girl, though not yet having left her home, or
even any woman of the highest chastity, would desire to
marry You, being captivated by Your unprecedented character,
knowledge, opulence and position. I know that You are
the husband of the goddess of fortune and are very kind
toward Your devotees; therefore I have decided to become Your
eternal maidservant. My dear Lord, I dedicate my
life and soul unto Your lotus feet. I have selected Your
Lordship as my husband, and I therefore request You to
accept me as Your wife. You are the supreme powerful, O
lotus-eyed one. Now I belong to You. If that which is
enjoyable for the lion to eat is taken away by the jackal, it
will be a ludicrous affair; therefore I request You to
immediately take care of me before I am taken
away by Sisupala and other princes like him. My dear Lord,
in my previous life I may have done public welfare work like
digging wells and planting trees, or pious activities such as
performing ritualistic ceremonies and sacrifices and serving
superiors like the spiritual master, brahmanas and Vaisnavas.
By these activities, perhaps I have pleased the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, Narayana. If this be so,
then I wish that You, Lord Krsna, the brother of
Lord Balarama, please come here and catch hold
of my hand so that I shall not be
touched by Sisupala and his company.' "
Rukmini's marriage with Sisupala was already
settled; therefore she suggested that Krsna kidnap
her so that this might be changed. This
sort of marriage, in
which the girl is kidnapped by force, is
known as raksasa and is practiced among
ksatriyas, or men with an administrative, martial
spirit. Because her marriage was already arranged to take
place the next day, Rukmini suggested that
Krsna come there incognito to kidnap
her and then fight with Sisupala and his allies
like the King of Magadha. Knowing that no one could
conquer Krsna, who would certainly emerge victorious, she
addressed Him as Ajita, "the unconquerable Lord."
Rukmini told Krsna not to be concerned that the fighting would
take place within the palace and that many of her family
members, including other women, might thus be wounded or even
killed. As the king of a country thinks of diplomatic ways to
achieve his object, Rukmini, being the daughter of a king, was
diplomatic in suggesting how this unnecessary and undesirable
killing could be avoided. She explained that it was the custom
of her family to visit the temple of Goddess Durga, their
family deity, before a marriage. (The ksatriya kings were
mostly staunch Vaisnavas, worshiping Lord Visnu in either the
Radha-Krsna or Laksmi-Narayana form; still, for their material
welfare they used to worship Goddess Durga. They never made the
mistake, however, of accepting the demigods as the Supreme Lord
on the level of visnu-tattva, as do some less intelligent men.)
To avoid the unnecessary killing of her relatives, Rukmini
suggested that it would be easiest for Him to kidnap her while
she was either going from the palace to the temple or else
returning home.
She also explained to Krsna why she was anxious to marry
Him, even though her marriage was to take place with
Sisupala, who was also qualified, being the son of a great king.
Rukmini said that she did not think anyone was greater than
Krsna, not even Lord Siva, who is known as Mahadeva, the
greatest of all demigods. Lord Siva also seeks the pleasure of
Lord Krsna in order to be delivered from his entanglement in
the quality of ignorance within the material world. Although
Lord Siva is the greatest of all great
souls, mahatmas, he keeps on his head the purifying water of
the Ganges, which emanates from a hole in this material
universe made by the toe of Lord Visnu. Lord Siva is in charge
of the material quality of ignorance, and to keep
himself in a transcendental position he always meditates on
Lord Visnu, or Krsna, and always tries to purify himself with
the water of the Ganges. Therefore Rukmini knew very well that
obtaining the favor of Krsna was not easy. Since even
Lord Siva must purify himself for this purpose, surely it would
be difficult for Rukmini, who was only the daughter of a
ksatriya king. Thus she desired to dedicate her life to
observing severe austerities and penances, such as fasting and
going without bodily comforts. If it were not possible in this
lifetime to gain Krsna's favor by these activities, she was
prepared to die from such austerities and to undergo similar
difficulties lifetime after lifetime. In the Bhagavad-gita it
is said that pure devotees of the Lord execute devotional
service with great determination. Such determination, as
exhibited by Rukmini-devi, is the only price for purchasing
Krsna's favor. One should be strongly determined in Krsna
consciousness, and that is the way to ultimate success
.
After relaying Rukmini-devi's statement to Krsna, the
brahmana said, "My dear Krsna, chief of the Yadu dynasty, I
have brought this confidential message for You from Rukmini;
now it is placed before You for Your consideration. After due
deliberation, You may act as You please, but if You want to do
something, You must do it immediately. There is not much time
left for action."
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Fifty-second Chapter
of Krsna, "Krsna, the Ranacora."
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