Devanagari
यस्याङ्घ्रिपङ्कजरज:स्नपनं महान्तो
वाञ्छन्त्युमापतिरिवात्मतमोऽपहत्यै ।
यर्ह्यम्बुजाक्ष न लभेय भवत्प्रसादं
जह्यामसून्व्रतकृशान् शतजन्मभि: स्यात् ॥ ४३ ॥
Verse text
yasyāṅghri-paṅkaja-rajaḥ-snapanaṁ mahānto
vāṣchanty umā-patir ivātma-tamo-’pahatyai
yarhy ambujākṣa na labheya bhavat-prasādaṁ
jahyām asūn vrata-kṛśān śata-janmabhiḥ syāt
Synonyms
yasya
—
whose
;
aṅghri
—
of the feet
;
paṅkaja
—
lotus
;
rajaḥ
—
with the dust
;
snapanam
—
bathing
;
mahāntaḥ
—
great souls
;
vāṣchanti
—
hanker after
;
umā
—
patiḥ — Lord Śiva, husband of Goddess Umā
;
iva
—
just as
;
ātma
—
their own
;
tamaḥ
—
of the ignorance
;
apahatyai
—
to vanquish
;
yarhi
—
when
;
ambuja
—
akṣa — O lotus-eyed one
;
na labheya
—
I cannot obtain
;
bhavat
—
Your
;
prasādam
—
mercy
;
jahyām
—
I should give up
;
asūn
—
my life airs
;
vrata
—
by austere penances
;
kṛśān
—
weakened
;
śata
—
hundreds
;
janmabhiḥ
—
after lifetimes
;
syāt
—
it may be .
Translation
O lotus-eyed one, great souls like Lord Śiva hanker to bathe in the dust of Your lotus feet and thereby destroy their ignorance. If I cannot obtain Your mercy, I shall simply give up my vital force, which will have become weak from the severe penances I will perform. Then, after hundreds of lifetimes of endeavor, I may obtain Your mercy.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O lotus-eyed one, great souls like Lord Śiva hanker to bathe in the dust of Your lotus feet and thereby destroy their ignorance. If I cannot obtain Your mercy, I shall simply give up my vital force, which will have become weak from the severe penances I will perform. Then, after hundreds of lifetimes of endeavor, I may obtain Your mercy.
KB 10.52.43
She also explained to Kṛṣṇa why she was anxious to marry Him, even though her marriage was to take place with Śiśupāla, who was also qualified, being the son of a great king. Rukmiṇī said that she did not think anyone was greater than Kṛṣṇa, not even Lord Śiva, who is known as Mahādeva, the greatest of all demigods. Lord Śiva also seeks the pleasure of Lord Kṛṣṇa in order to be delivered from his entanglement in the quality of ignorance within the material world. Although Lord Śiva is the greatest of all great souls, mahātmās, 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 Viṣṇu. Lord Śiva is in charge of the material quality of ignorance, and to keep himself in a transcendental position he always meditates on Lord Viṣṇu, or Kṛṣṇa, and always tries to purify himself with the water of the Ganges. Therefore Rukmiṇī knew very well that obtaining the favor of Kṛṣṇa was not easy. Since even Lord Śiva must purify himself for this purpose, surely it would be difficult for Rukmiṇī, who was only the daughter of a kṣatriya 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 Kṛṣṇa’s favor by these activities, she was prepared to die from such austerities and to undergo similar difficulties lifetime after lifetime. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said that pure devotees of the Lord execute devotional service with great determination. Such determination, as exhibited by Rukmiṇī-devī, is the only price for purchasing Kṛṣṇa’s favor. One should be strongly determined in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and that is the way to ultimate success.
Purport
The divine Rukmiṇī’s extraordinary dedication to Śrī Kṛṣṇa is possible only on the spiritual platform, not in the fragile world of mundane affection.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
"Princess, you may say that, but how can you get my mercy without having performed pious acts in the past to attain me?"
"In order to attain you in a future life, in this life I will practice celibacy and austerities. If after one life’s activities I do not attain you, then I will perform activities for a million lives. It is impossible for me to erase my desire to attain you."
"But you have also performed many sinful activities which will prevent you from attaining me."
"It is certain that all these sins will be removed by your lotus feet, which I will attain by my austerities. The great devotees like Siva desire to bathe in the dust of your lotus feet in order to destroy at the root their ignorance. I will also destroy all my sins by bathing in the dust of your lotus feet, which I will attain by austerities. If I do not attain your mercy, then I will give up my life by fasting."
"What will you accomplish by that?"
"I will give up my life time after time for hundreds of births until I attain your mercy. O Lord with lotus eyes, longing for the glance of those lotus eyes is the cause of my performing such austerities!"
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Great persons bathe in the dust of your feet. This suggests a great tīrtha like Gaṅgā in which people bathe. Or snapanam can indicate sprinkling the dust on their bodies. Great persons like Brahmā take this dust to destroy at the root (apahatyai) their ignorance. The example of Śiva is given. He is famous for holding Gaṅgā on his head, desiring to cleanse himself of contamination. He is the controlling deity of ignorance and removes that ignorance by bathing in the Gaṅgā. Just as Umā in another birth married Śiva, a great ātmārāma, you should marry me. Because of your supreme position, you should be my husband and no one else. And you should do this because of your supreme beauty. O lotus-eyed Lord! Yasya should correspond to tasya in the main clause but instead bhavat is used for metrical reasons. If I do not attain your mercy in the form of accepting me as your wife, then I will give up (jahyām) my life. The potential form of the verb is used to suggest cause (giving up life and attaining his mercy.) Hetu-hetumator liṅ: the potential form is used to denote cause and effect. (Pāṇini 3.3.156) There is a great possibility of this happening because of great pain of love. The method of giving up life is starving the body through vows. I will die in grief for hundreds of births in order to get your mercy. Or, doing vows to attain you, my body becomes naturally thin. The life airs leave on their own on not attaining your mercy. It will be easy to give up my life. Since it is so easy to do, I will do this for hundreds of lives. Vrata-kṛśa is an alternate version. “Hundreds of births” indicates an indefinite number. This is a statement she makes by absorption in human pastimes.
Or “You are not qualified to be my wife. How can I marry you?” That is true since you are rarely attained even by Brahmā and others. I am only a daughter of a kṣatriya. But I will try to attain you hundreds by giving up my life for many births. She then speaks this verse. Though the great desire your foot dust even today they do not attain it. I shall give up my life by austerities for of births. It is possible I will attain your mercy after hundreds of births. Why will you do this? You cause great pain because of your great beauty, O lotus-eyed lord!
Or, “I am suffering separation from the gopīs within. I cannot marry you. Marry someone else who has great qualities and beauty ” Seeing no other way, she decides to undergo great austerities up to even death and then he will change his mind out of compassion and fear of committing adharma by killing a woman. Then she speaks this verse.