Canto Ten - Chapter 54

Śrī Śuka said: Thus enraged, all the kings put on their armor, mounted their vehicles, took up their bows, and, each surrounded by his own forces, pursued Kṛṣṇa.

Seeing them attack, O King, the commanders of the Yādava army stood facing them and loudly twanged their bows.

Expert in weaponry, the warriors riding horses, seated upon elephants, and standing in chariots released showers of arrows like clouds pouring rain upon mountains.

Seeing her husband's army covered by torrents of arrows, the slender-waisted bride looked shyly at His face, her eyes agitated by fear.

The Supreme Lord laughed and said, 'Do not be afraid, beautiful-eyed one. Your forces will destroy this enemy army at once.'

Unable to tolerate the enemy's bold assault, heroes such as Gada and Saṅkarṣaṇa struck their horses, elephants, and chariots with iron arrows.

Millions of heads belonging to chariot warriors, horsemen, and elephant riders fell to the ground, still wearing earrings, crowns, and turbans.

Hands still holding swords, clubs, bows, and arrows fell, together with arms, thighs, and feet, and with the heads of horses, mules, elephants, camels, asses, and men.

As the Vṛṣṇis, eager for victory, destroyed their assembled forces, the kings turned away and fled, led by Jarāsandha.

They approached Śiśupāla, who was tormented as though his wife had been stolen, his radiance lost, his enthusiasm gone, and his face withered, and addressed him.

O lion among men, cast off this dejection. O King, embodied beings never experience either favorable or unfavorable circumstances as permanent.

Just as a wooden puppet dances according to the puppeteer's desire, so this creature, controlled by the Supreme Lord, undergoes happiness and distress.

I have been defeated by Śauri in seventeen battles, each time with twenty-three armies. In only one battle did I defeat Him.

Yet I never grieve or exult, for I know that the world is driven by time joined with destiny.

Now all of us, commanders of mighty hosts of heroes, have been defeated by the insignificant forces of the Yadus protected by Kṛṣṇa.

Our enemies have conquered now because time favors them. We shall conquer when time turns auspiciously toward us.

Śrī Śuka said: Thus consoled by his friends, Caidya returned to his city with his followers. The surviving kings likewise went back to their respective cities.

But mighty Rukmī, who hated Kṛṣṇa and could not tolerate his sister's rākṣasa marriage, followed Kṛṣṇa from behind with an entire akṣauhiṇī.

Furious and intensely enraged, the mighty-armed Rukmī, clad in armor and bearing his bow, made a vow within the hearing of all the kings:

Unless I kill Kṛṣṇa in battle and bring Rukmiṇī back, I shall not enter Kuṇḍina. I declare this truth before you.

Having spoken thus, he mounted his chariot and urgently told his charioteer, 'Drive the horses to where Kṛṣṇa is, so that I may fight Him.'

Today with my sharp arrows I shall strip that wicked cowherd of the pride in prowess by which he forcibly abducted my sister.

Thus boasting, the foolish man, unaware of the Lord's immeasurable power, approached Govinda in a single chariot and called, 'Stop! Stop!'

Drawing his powerful bow, he struck Kṛṣṇa with three arrows and cried, 'Stand here for a moment, O disgrace to the Yadu dynasty!'

Where are You going after stealing my sister like a crow stealing sacrificial food? Today I shall humble You, fool, deceitful trick-fighter that You are.

Release the maiden before my arrows strike You down and You lie dead! Smiling, Kṛṣṇa cut his bow and pierced Rukmī with six arrows.

With eight arrows He struck his four horses, with two his charioteer, and with three his banner. Rukmī took up another bow and pierced Kṛṣṇa with five arrows.

Though struck by that shower of arrows, Acyuta cut his bow. Rukmī took up another, but the imperishable Lord cut that one as well.

Whatever weapon Rukmī took up, whether iron club, spear, trident, shield and sword, lance, or javelin, Hari cut it to pieces.

Then Rukmī leapt from his chariot, sword in hand, and angrily rushed at Kṛṣṇa intending to kill Him, like a moth flying into a flame.

With His arrows Kṛṣṇa cut the oncoming warrior's sword and shield into pieces as small as sesame seeds. He then drew His own sharp sword and prepared to kill Rukmī.

Seeing her husband ready to kill her brother, the virtuous Rukmiṇī, overwhelmed with fear, fell at His feet and spoke piteously.

Śrī Rukmiṇī said: O Lord of yoga, immeasurable Self, God of gods and Lord of the universe, O all-auspicious, mighty-armed one, You should not kill my brother.

Śrī Śuka said: Her limbs trembled violently with terror, her face withered from grief, her throat choked, and her golden necklace slipped in her distress. Holding His feet, she moved the compassionate Lord to desist.

Kṛṣṇa bound the evildoer with cloth and disfigured him by shaving parts of his beard, mustache, and hair. Meanwhile the foremost Yadus crushed the astonishing enemy army as elephants crush a lotus grove.

Approaching Kṛṣṇa, they saw Rukmī in that condition, nearly dead. The mighty and compassionate Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa released him from his bonds and spoke to Kṛṣṇa.

Kṛṣṇa, You have done an improper deed repugnant to Us. For a relative, shaving the beard and hair and thus disfiguring him is equivalent to killing him.

O virtuous lady, do not resent Us as you contemplate your brother's disfigurement. No one else bestows happiness or distress, for every person experiences the fruit of his own actions.

Even when a relative's offense deserves death, he should not be killed by his own kin. Cast off by his own fault, he is already as good as dead; why kill him again?

This dharma of the kṣatriyas, established by the progenitor, is exceedingly dreadful, for by it even a brother may kill his brother.

Blinded by pride in prosperity, arrogant men attack even their own kin for the sake of a kingdom, land, wealth, a woman, honor, splendor, or some other cause.

Your understanding is distorted when, like an ignorant person, you always imagine misfortune for those hostile to all beings and good fortune for your friends.

Only among those who identify the self with the body does the Lord's māyā generate the delusion that someone is a friend, an enemy, or neutral.

The one supreme Self is present in all embodied beings, yet fools perceive Him as many, just as light or the sky appears divided.

This body has a beginning and an end and consists of material elements, vital air, and qualities. Superimposed upon the self through ignorance, it causes the embodied being to wander through saṃsāra.

The real self can have neither union with nor separation from anything unreal and other than itself. Yet because the self is the cause of the body's manifestation, their connection appears to exist, just as the sun appears connected with sight and visible forms.

Birth and the other transformations belong to the body, never to the self, just as the phases belong to the moon's appearance and not to the moon itself. Its death resembles the dark-moon night.

Just as a sleeping person experiences himself, sense objects, and the fruits of action although the dream is unreal, an undiscerning person undergoes material existence in the same way.

Therefore, pure-smiling one, dispel with knowledge of truth this grief born of ignorance, which dries up and bewilders the self, and become established in your true nature.

Śrī Śuka said: Thus instructed by the Supreme Lord Balarāma, slender Rukmiṇī cast off her despondency and steadied her mind with intelligence.

Rukmī was released with only his life remaining, his strength and radiance destroyed by his enemies. Remembering his disfigurement and his ambition frustrated, he built a great city named Bhojakaṭa for his residence.

Having declared, 'I shall not enter Kuṇḍina without killing wicked Kṛṣṇa and bringing back my younger sister,' he remained there in anger.

O best of the Kurus, after defeating the earthly kings and bringing Bhīṣmaka's daughter to His city, the Supreme Lord duly married her according to sacred rule.

At that time a great festival arose in every home of the Yadu capital, O King, for all the people were exclusively devoted to Kṛṣṇa, lord of the Yadus.

Joyful men and women, their jeweled earrings brightly polished and themselves dressed in colorful garments, brought wedding gifts for the bride and groom.

The city of the Vṛṣṇis shone with raised banners of Indra, varied garlands, fabrics, jeweled archways, and auspicious arrangements at every doorway: full waterpots, aloe incense, and lamps.

Its roads were sprinkled by the rut streaming from the elephants of the invited and beloved kings, and its gateways were beautified with plantain and betel-nut trees brushed by those elephants.

The Kurus, Sṛñjayas, Kaikeyas, Vidarbhas, Yadus, and Kuntis rejoiced together amid the bustle of people hurrying everywhere.

Hearing the account of Rukmiṇī's abduction sung in every direction, kings and princesses were profoundly astonished.

O King, the people of Dvārakā experienced supreme joy upon seeing Kṛṣṇa, the husband of Śrī, united with Rukmiṇī, who was Ramā herself.