by Bibek Debroy
Shri-Shuka continued, ‘She regarded herself as extremely loved by him, because he was always with her. So as to destroy her pride, the illustrious one said this and stopped. The queen had never heard such disagreeable words from her beloved, who was the lord of all the lords in the three worlds. Hearing this, she was scared. Her heart shuddered and she trembled. Overcome by great anxiety, she started to weep. Her well-formed feet were beautiful, with red nails. She scratched on the ground with these. Tears flowed from her dark eyes, decorated with collyrium, and sprinkled her breasts, red with kunkuma. She stood there, with her face cast downwards. The grief made her words choke. The great misery, fear and sorrow made her lose her mind. The bangles slipped from her hand and the fan fell down. She lost control over her body and her senses were suddenly confounded. With her hair dishevelled, she fell down, like a plantain tree uprooted by the wind. His beloved was bound to him by bonds of love and was unable to understand the purport of his jesting. Seeing this, the illustrious and merciful Krishna was filled with compassion for her. He swiftly got down from the bed and raised her in his four arms. 541 He gathered up her hair and wiped her face with his lotus hand. The tears of grief had flowed from her eyes and had stained her breasts. He wiped them. O king! She was virtuous and devoted to no one but him. He embraced her in his arms. The lord was compassionate towards those who were distressed. The destination of devotees knew how to comfort people and assured her. She did not understand the purpose of his jesting and did not deserve to suffer in this way.
‘The illustrious one said, “O princess of Vidarbha! Do not be displeased with me. I know that you are devoted towards me. O dear one! I jokingly spoke those words with a desire to hear what you would say. I wished to see your loving face, with your lower lip quivering in rage, while you furrowed your beautiful eyebrows and cast sidelong and angry glances at me. O timid one! O beautiful lady! This is the greatest gain for householders in a home, spending time in joking with the beloved.”’
Shri-Shuka continued, ‘O king! Thus, the princess of Vidarbha was consoled by the illustrious one. She understood that the words had been spoken in jest and gave up all fear of her beloved abandoning her. She glanced bashfully towards the face of the illustrious one, bull among men. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Her smile was beautiful and gentle. Rukmini said, “O lotus-eyed one! What you have said is indeed true. You are the illustrious one and I am not your equal in might. You find pleasure in your own greatness. You are the lord of the three lords. 542 I am Prakriti, characterized by gunas. It is the ignorant who grasp my feet. O Urukrama! It is true that you lie down on the ocean, as if you are afraid of the gunas. As atman, you are only awareness. You are always against the wicked aggregation of the senses and are engaged in fighting against them. Your servants give up the status of being kings, rejecting the blinding darkness. 543 Sages enjoy the honey of your lotus feet. Your path is not evident to men who are like animals. It is indeed impossible to comprehend. O lord! The lord’s activities are superhuman. Therefore, this must also be true of those who follow you. 544 You possess nothing because there is nothing superior to you. That is the reason Aja 545 and the others, those who enjoy offerings, bring you their offerings. Those who are satisfied with their bodies and blinded by their affluence do not know you as the Destroyer. You are loved by those who enjoy offerings and they are also loved by you. You are the embodiment of all the objectives of human existence. You are the fruits. Because they are intelligent, those who desire you give up everything else. O lord! They are the right people for you to associate with. This is not like intercourse between a man and a woman, which brings both happiness and misery. Sages who have given up the staff 546 have spoken about your glory. You are the atman of the universe and you give your atman away. 547 That is the reason I have chosen you, rejecting the one born from the lotus, Bhava and the lords in the vault of heaven, not to speak of others. Their hopes are destroyed by the force of time, which is generated from the movement of your eyebrows. O Gada’s elder brother! You drove away the kings through the roar of your Sharnga bow, like a lion driving away animals from its own share, and abducted me, your own share. O lord! Therefore, your words that you sought refuge in the ocean because you were scared of them is false. Desiring you, jewels among kings like Anga, Vainya, 548 Jayanti’s son, 549 Nahusha’s son, 550 Gaya and others gave up their universal sovereignty. O lotus-eyed one! They cast aside their kingdoms and entered the forest. They followed you. Did they suffer in this world? Virtuous ones have described the scent of your lotus feet as something that confers liberation on people. It is Lakshmi’s abode. Having smelt these, which mortal woman who knows what is good for herself will ignore you and resort to someone else who always suffers from fear? You are the lord of the universe and I have chosen you because you are appropriate for me. You are my atman and will satisfy my desires in this world and in the next. May the shelter of your feet protect me from wandering around, 551 just as they grant freedom from all that is false to those who approach them and worship you. O Achyuta! O afflicter of enemies! Your glories have been chanted in assembles of Mrida 552 and Virinchi. You mentioned some kings. Let them be servants in the houses of women who have not heard about you and where the servants are asses, cows, dogs and cats. 553 A woman who has not smelt the fragrance of your lotus feet is confused in her intelligence. She will love and serve a living corpse with skin, whiskers, body hair, nails and filled from the inside with flesh, bones, blood, worms, excrement, phlegm, bile and wind. O lotus-eyed one! May I be devoted to your feet. You are satisfied within yourself and do not glance too much towards me. However, when there is an excessive increase in rajas, you do look at me. 554 That itself is great compassion towards me. O Madhusudana! I do not think that your words are false. Like Amba, unmarried maidens often develop love. 555 Even if she is married, a pumshchali 556 always looks for new and newer lovers. An intelligent person should not maintain such a wicked woman. She has deviated in both worlds.”
‘The illustrious one said, “O virtuous lady! O princess! We deceived you only because we wished to hear you speak. Everything that you have said in reply is true. O beautiful lady! O fortunate one! You are always single-minded in your devotion towards me. Everything that you desire will happen, but you will also obtain freedom from desire. O unblemished one! I have experienced love towards the husband and devotion to the husband. Though I tried to disturb you with my words, your mind was attached to me and did not deviate. I am the lord of emancipation. But confounded by my maya, there are those who perform austerities and observe vows with the objective of obtaining happiness as couples. O proud one! I am the lord of emancipation and I am also the lord of prosperity. But having obtained me, there are unfortunate men who desire prosperity, which can also be obtained in hell. They are addicted to material objects and hell is the most appropriate place for them. It is good fortune that you are the mistress of my household. You are constantly engaged in faithful service towards me and that liberates from the cycle of samsara. The deceitful find this very difficult to accomplish, especially those whose intentions are also wicked. This is an extremely heavy burden to bear for a woman who is deceitful. O proud one! Among all the houses and all the wives, I have not seen such a loving one as you. At the time of your own marriage, there were kings who had arrived. But disregarding them, simply because you had heard true accounts about me, you secretly sent a brahmana to me with a message. Your brother was defeated and disfigured in the encounter. At the time of the marriage, he was killed during a gambling match. 557 You experienced this intolerable suffering. However, because you were scared of being separated from me, you did not utter a word. We have been conquered by you. To obtain me, you sent a messenger with secret counsel. When I took a long time, you thought that everything was empty. Unwilling to be united with anyone else, you wished to give up your body. We rejoice in this affection and may it always remain with you.”’
Shri-Shuka continued, ‘Thus, the illustrious lord of the universe found
his own pleasure with Rama and indulged in this conjugal conversation. He was imitating the conduct in the world of men. Similarly, in the other houses, the lord also behaved like a householder. Hari, the preceptor of the worlds, was engaged in following the dharma of a householder.’
Chapter 10(61)
Shri-Shuka said, ‘Each of Krishna’s women gave birth to ten sons each. They possessed all his prosperity and in no way were they inferior to their father. The princesses saw that Achyuta was always in their house. Not knowing about his true nature, each of those women thought that she was the most loved by him. They were captivated by his beautiful face, which was like the whorl of a lotus, his large eyes, his long arms, his loving and smiling glances and his attractive conversation. The women tried to conquer the lord’s mind with their own allurements, but were incapable of doing so. They cast bashful and smiling glances at him and indicated their desires by arching their eyebrows and sending other strong messages of intercourse. However, though those sixteen thousand wives used such arrows of the god of love, they were incapable of agitating his senses. The women obtained Rama’s consort as their husband. Not even Brahma and the others know the means to obtain him. They constantly enjoyed the pleasure of that increased love towards him and his smiling and sidelong glances. Their desire for union with him was always new. Though each possessed hundreds of servant-maids, they themselves took up the task of serving the lord. They approached him and offered him a seat and other objects of worship. They washed his feet. They offered him betel leaves. They dispelled his exhaustion by fanning him and gave him fragrances and garlands. They dressed his hair, prepared his bed, bathed him and gave him presents. Each of Krishna’s wives had ten sons. Earlier, I have mentioned eight queens. I will now recount the names of their sons, Pradyumna and the others. With Pradyumna as the eldest, those born from Rukmini were Charudeshna, Sudeshna, the valiant Charudeha, Sucharu, Charugupta, Bhadracharu, Charuchandra, Vicharu and Charu as the tenth. Not a single one of these sons of Hari was inferior to his father. Satyabhama’s ten sons were Bhanu, Subhanu, Svarbhanu, Prabhanu, Bhanuman, Chandrabhanu, Brihadbhanu, Atibhanu as the eighth, Shribhanu and Pratibhanu. Jambavati’s sons were Samba, Sumitra, Purujit, Shatajit, Sahasrajit, Vijaya, Chitraketu, Vasuman, Dravida and Kratu. Samba and the others were dear to their father. The sons of Nagnajiti were Vira, Chandra, Ashvasena, Chitragu, Vegavan, Vrisha, Ama, Shanku, Vasu and the prosperous Kunti. The sons of Kalindi were Shruta, Kavivrisha, Vira, Subahu, Bhadra, Ekala, Shanti, Dasha, Purnamasa and Somaka as the youngest. Madra’s 558 sons were Praghosha, Gatravan, Simha, Bala, Prabala, Urdhvaga, Mahashakti, Saha, Oja and Aparajita. The sons of Mitravinda were Vrika, Harsha, Anila, Gridhra, Vardhana, Annada, Mahamsha, Pavana, Vahni and Kshudhi. Bhadra’s sons were Sangramajit, Brihatsena, Shura, Praharana, Arijit, Jaya, Subhadra, Vama, Ayus and Satyaka. Through Hari, Rohini’s sons were Diptiman, Tamratapta and others. O king! When they lived in the city of Bhojakata, through Rukmavati, Rukmi’s daughter, Pradyumna had an immensely powerful son named Aniruddha. O king! Sixteen thousand mothers gave birth to those who descended from Krishna and their sons and grandsons numbered hundreds of crores.’
The king asked, ‘Rukmi had been defeated by Krishna in an encounter and was waiting for an opportunity to kill him. O learned one! How did he bestow his daughter on his enemy’s son? Tell me how two enemies entered into a matrimonial alliance. Yogis can properly see everything in the past, the present and the future, even if it is beyond the senses and distant and even if it is obstructed from vision.’
Shri-Shuka continued, ‘He 559 was the embodiment of Ananga himself and when she chose him at her svayamvara, on a single chariot, he defeated the assembled kings and abducted her. Rukmi remembered the enemy and the disrespect shown by Krishna. However, since he wished to please his sister, he bestowed his daughter on his nephew. O king! Kritavarma’s powerful son married Rukmini’s large-eyed daughter, Charumati. Rukmi bestowed Rochana, his granddaughter, on his daughter’s son, Aniruddha. Despite his being bound in enmity towards Hari, he wished to bring pleasure to his sister. Though he knew this marriage was adharma, he was bound by bonds of affection. 560 O king! At the time of the marriage, Rukmini, Rama, Keshava, Samba, Pradyumna and the others went to the city of Bhojakata.
‘When the marriage was over, insolent kings, headed by the king of Kalinga, 561 told Rukmi, “Defeat Bala in a game of dice. O king! Though he does not know how to play with dice, he is extremely addicted to it.” Thus addressed, he challenged Bala and a match of gambling with the dice commenced. Rama placed stakes of one hundred, one thousand and ten thousand. 562 Rukmi won them all. Kalinga displayed his teeth and laughed loudly at Bala. The wielder of the plough could not tolerate this. After this, Rukmi placed a bet of one lakh and Bala won this. However, resorting to deceit, Rukmi exclaimed, “I have won.” The prosperous one became turbulent with rage, like the ocean on the day of the full moon. His eyes turned red because of his great rage and he placed a bet of ten crores. According to dharma, Rama won this. However, resorting to deceit, Rukmi said, “I have won. Let the referees make their decision.” A voice was heard from the firmament, “According to dharma, Bala has won the bet. What Rukmi has spoken is false.” Urged on by the wicked kings, the one from Vidarbha did not pay heed to this. Goaded by destiny, he laughed at Samkarshana and said, “You cowherds roam around in the forests. You are not accomplished in playing with the dice. Playing with dice and playing with arrows are for kings, not for the likes of you.” Abused by Rukmi and laughed at by the kings, he was enraged. In that assembly of kings, he raised a club and slew him. The king of Kalinga, who had displayed his teeth and laughed, tried to flee. But he angrily seized him at the tenth step and knocked out his teeth with force. Other kings suffered from Bala’s club. Their arms, thighs and heads were crushed and covered with blood. They ran away in fear. O king! Hari was scared that his relationship of love with Rukmini would suffer. Therefore, when his brother-in-law, Rukmi, was killed by Bala, he did not say anything—praising it, or condemning it. Rama and the other Dasharhas placed Aniruddha and his bride on an excellent chariot and went to Kushasthali 563 from Bhojakata. Having sought refuge with Madhusudana, they had accomplished all their objectives.’
Chapter 10(62)
The king said, ‘O great yogi! The best of the Yadus 564 married Bana’s daughter, Usha. As a result, there was a terrible battle between Hari and Shankara. You should tell me everything about this.’
Shri-Shuka replied, ‘The great-souled Bali, who had given the earth to Hari in his form as a dwarf, had one hundred sons and Bana was the eldest. His 565 biological son was Bana and he was always devoted to Shiva. The intelligent one was revered and generous. He was firm in his vows and did not waver from the truth. Earlier, he used to rule over his kingdom from the beautiful city known as Shonita. Because of Shambhu’s favours, the immortals behaved as if they were his servants. When Mrida engaged in his tandava dance, he pleased him by using his own one thousand arms to play on musical instruments. The illustrious lord of all creatures is one who should be worshipped. He was devoted towards his devotees and asked him to choose a boon. He requested him to be the lord of the city. He became intoxicated with his valour. On one occasion, Girisha was standing next to him. He touched his lotus feet with his diadem, which had the complexion of the sun. He said, “O Mahadeva! I bow down to you. You are the lord and preceptor of the worlds. You are like the tree from heaven that satisfies all the unfulfilled desires of men. The one thousand arms you have given me have become a great burden. Other than you, I do not find anyone in the three worlds that I can fight with. O original being! My arms were itching to have a fight. I advanced against the elephants who are the guardians of the directions, pulverizing mountains with my arms. However, they were terrified and fled.” Hearing this, the illustrious one became angry. “O foolish one! When you fight against someone who is my equal, your standard will be shattered. That is when your insolence will be broken.” Thus addressed, because of his wicked i
ntelligence, he was delighted and entered his own residence. Evil in his intelligence, he waited for Girisha’s instructions, so that his own valour might be destroyed.
‘He had a daughter named Usha. In a dream, she had intercourse with Pradyumna. The maiden obtained him as his beloved, though she had never seen him or heard of him. Unable to see him, 566 she arose in the midst of her friends and exclaimed, “O beloved! Where are you?” At this, she was disturbed and greatly ashamed. Bana’s minister was Kumbhanda and his daughter, Chitralekha, was her friend. Filled with curiosity, she asked her friend, Usha. “O one with the excellent brows! Whom are you searching for? What is this wish of yours? O princess! I have not yet seen anyone accept your hand.” Usha replied, “I saw a man in my dream. He was lotus-eyed and dark in complexion. His arms were long and he was attired in yellow garments. He was one who touches the hearts of women. He is the beloved one I am searching for. Having made me drink the nectar of his lips, he has gone somewhere. I am craving after him. He has abandoned me in this ocean of misery.” Chitralekha said, “I will dispel your misery. As long as he exists anywhere in the three worlds, I will bring your groom to you. Please indicate the one who has stolen your heart.” Having said this, she drew portraits of gods, gandharvas, Siddhas, charanas, serpents, daityas, vidyadharas, yakshas and men. Among men, she drew portraits of Vrishnis, Shura, Anakadundubhi, Rama and Krishna. On seeing Pradyumna, she was ashamed. 567 O lord of the earth! Seeing Aniruddha’s portrait, she cast her face downwards in shame. She smiled and said, “This is he. It is him.” Chitralekha was a yogini and recognized him as Krishna’s grandson. O king! Travelling through the sky, she went to Dvaraka, protected by Krishna. Pradyumna’s son was sleeping on an excellent couch. Using powers of yoga, she seized him. She took him to Shonitapura and showed her friend her beloved. Seeing that most handsome of men, her face filled with joy. She took Pradyumna’s son to her own house, which was impossible for men to see. There, she enjoyed herself with him. She served and worshipped him with extremely expensive garments, garlands, fragrances, incense, lamps, seats, other objects, drinks, food, other eatables and pleasant words. He was secreted in the maiden’s house and his affection towards her constantly increased. Since his senses were overwhelmed by the enjoyment, he did not realize the number of days that had passed.
