Dwarka Means - Divine Entrance : June 2023

Friday, June 23, 2023

sitting

Krishna and Rukmini were once sitting together, when, turning to his wife with a smile, Krishna spoke the following words:

"Princess, thou wert coveted by great and powerful kings. Thy brother and thy own father offered thee to Sisupâla and others. How is it then thou didst accept me who am not thy equal? See how we have taken shelter in the sea being afraid of the kings. Having powerful enemies, we can hardly be said to occupy our kingly seats. O thou with beautiful eyebrows, woe to those women who follow such men as have unknown and uncommon ways of their own. Poor as we are, wealthy people hardly seek us. It is meet that they should marry or make friendship with each other, who are equals in wealth, birth, power and beauty. It is through ignorance and shortsightedness that thou hast married one who is void of all Gunas (good qualities) and who is praised only by Bhikshus (beggars). Therefore do thou seek some Kshatriya king who will be a match for thee. Sisupâla, Sâlva, Jarâsandha, Danta Vakra and other kings and even thy own brother Rukmin, blindfolded by pride, shewed hostility to me. For the repression of their pride, I the punisher of evil men brought thee here. But we are indifferent to the body and the house, void of all desires, fixed in self, all full, the light within, without actions."

(Without anticipating our general study of the Dvârakâ Lilâ, it is sufficient to mention here that Rukmini is the spiritual energy of Mula Prakriti, or rather the light of Purusha, as reflected on Prakriti. The gist of what Krishna says is that there is an essential difference between Prakriti and Purusha. Purusha is void of Gunas, while the Gunas form the essence of Prakriti. Coming from Prakriti, Rukmini must follow the Prâkritic elements. And if Krishna wrested her away from the hands of the material energies of Prakriti and even from her own Prâkritic basis (her brothers and father), it was because the material energies had asserted themselves too much. This was done in the Seventh Manvantara, when the spiritual ascent was a Kâlpic necessity. Was Rukmini to remain wedded to Krishna for the remaining period of the Kalpa, or was she to go back to her brothers and their friends?).

Rukmini replied: —

"O Lotus eyed! even so it is as thou sayest. I am quite unlike thee, the Great Bhagavat. Lord of even Brahmâ, Vishnu and Śiva, Thou art plunged in Thy own greatness. What am I to Thee, the Gunas forming my essence? It is only ignorant people who worship me. (For fear of kings, thou hast taken refuge in the sea.) But the kings are the Gunas, (Sound, Touch, Form, Taste, and Smell which compose the object world.) For fear of them, as it were, thou hast taken refuge in the inner ocean of the heart, and there thou dost manifest Thyself, as pure Chaitanya. The object-seeking Indriyas are no doubt thy constant enemies. But when thou speakest of giving up kingly seats, why even thy votaries give them up, as darkness itself. The ways of even Munis who worship Thy Lotus feet are unknown; what of thine own? When their ways are uncommon, what of thine? Thou art poor indeed, for there is nothing besides thee, (and so nothing can form Thy wealth.) But thou dost receive the offerings of others and they seek thee. It is not through ignorance, but knowing that thou art the Âtmâ of the Universe, that I have sought Thee. The flow of Time that arises from Thy eyebrow swallows up the desires of even Brahmâ and others. I did not even seek them for Thy sake. What speakest thou of others? As the lion carries away his share by force from other animals, so thou didst carry me away from amongst the kings. How can I believe that thou didst take shelter in the Sea from fear of such kings? Anga, Prithu, Bharata, Yayâti, Gaya and other jewels of kings gave up their kingdoms and sought thee in the forests. Did woe befall them that thou talkest of woe to me? The Gunas have their resting place in thee. Thou art the home of Lakshmî. Moksha is at Thy feet. What foolish woman shall follow others, neglecting Thee? I have accepted thee, the Lord and soul of the Universe, the giver of all blessings here and hereafter. Let thy Moksha-giving feet be my shelter. Let those women have the kings for their husbands, those asses, bullocks, dogs, cats, and servants who have not heard of Thee.

"(What is man without Âtmâ?) Those that have not smelt the honey of Thy Lotus feet seek the dead body, though it seems to be alive, consisting of flesh, blood, bone, worms, excrement, phlegm, bile and gas, covered over with skin, hair and nails." (Mula Prakriti in the Universe, or Budhi in man, is wedded to Âtmâ, represented by Sri Krishna. The kings represent here the followers of material elements in the Universe or in man.)

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Soubha

When Krishna carried away Rukmini, he defeated the kings in battle and, amongst others, he defeated Sâlva, king of Soubha, the friend of Sisupâla. Sâlva vowed at the time to kill all Yâdavas. He ate only a handful of dust and worshipped Śiva. After a year Śiva became pleased with his worship and asked the king to name a boon. He prayed for an invulnerable chariot that would carry terror to the Yâdavas. At the bidding of Śiva, Mâyâ prepared an iron chariot, called Soubha, which could move at will to any place. Mounted on this chariot, Sâlva attacked Dvârakâ, with his large army. He threw weapons, stones, trees and serpents from above and demolished walls and gardens. The people of Dvârakâ became very much oppressed. Pradyumna and other Yâdavas engaged in fight with Sâlva and his army. Sâlva's chariot was sometimes visible and sometimes not. It now rose high and now came low. With difficulty, Pradyumna killed Dyumat, the general of Sâlva. But still the fight went on for seven days and seven nights. Krishna had been at Hastinâpura. He felt misgivings and hurried to Dvârakâ with Râma. The fight was then going on. Krishna placed Râma in charge of the town and himself went to fight with Sâlva. Sâlva tauntingly addressed Krishna who gave the king a heavy blow with his club. Sâlva disappeared. Instantly a man came and informed Krishna that he was a messenger from Devaki. Sâlva had carried away his father Vâsudeva.

Krishna asked: — "How could Sâlva conquer Râma so as to carry away my father?" But he had scarcely finished when Sâlva appeared with somebody like Vâsudeva, saying "O fool, here is your father. I will kill him in your presence. Save him, if you can." He then cut off the head of Vâsudeva, and entered the chariot. Krishna found this was all the Mâyâ of Sâlva and in reality his father was neither carried off nor killed. He broke the chariot Soubha with his club. Sâlva left the chariot and stood upon earth, club in hand. Krishna cut off his hands and then cut off his head with the Chakra.

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Direction Tree

On the west of that wall, within a temple, situated under a Parijâta tree, is Vâsudeva, with his eight wives, Rukmini, Satyabhama, Jâmbavati, Nâgnajiti, Sulakshanâ, Mitravindâ, Anuvindâ and Sunandâ.
On the north, under a Harichandana tree, is Sankarshana with Revati.
On the south, under a Santâna tree, is Pradyumna with Rati.
On the east, under a Kalpataru, is Aniruddha.

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