SB 10.54.23

SB 10.54.23

Devanagari

विकत्थमान: कुमतिरीश्वरस्याप्रमाणवित् । रथेनैकेन गोविन्दं तिष्ठ तिष्ठेत्यथाह्वयत् ॥ २३ ॥

Verse text

vikatthamānaḥ kumatir īśvarasyāpramāṇa-vit rathenaikena govindaṁ tiṣṭha tiṣṭhety athāhvayat

Synonyms

vikatthamānaḥ boasting ; ku matiḥ — foolish ; īśvarasya of the Supreme Lord ; apramāṇa vit — not knowing the dimensions ; rathena ekena with a single chariot ; govindam to Lord Kṛṣṇa ; tiṣṭha tiṣṭha stand and fight ; iti so saying ; atha then ; āhvayat he called .

Translation

Boasting thus, foolish Rukmī, ignorant of the true extent of the Supreme Lord’s power, approached Lord Govinda in his lone chariot and challenged Him, “Just stand and fight!”

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Boasting thus, foolish Rukmī, ignorant of the true extent of the Supreme Lord's power, approached Lord Govinda in his lone chariot and challenged Him, "Just stand and fight!" KB 10.54.23 Thus this unintelligent man, Rukmī, ignorant of the extent of the strength and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, voiced his impudent threats. In great stupidity, he soon stood before Kṛṣṇa, telling Him repeatedly, “Stop for a minute and fight with me!”

Purport

It appears from these verses that though Rukmī set out with an entire military division, he personally rushed up to Lord Kṛṣṇa to fight with Him.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Vikatthamānaḥ means speaking badly, or boasting. He was foolish (kumatiḥ). And he was ignorant of the Lord’s glories. Fooling Balarāma by taking another path, he was with one chariot. He called to fight personally with Kṛṣṇa alone in great pride, since he had left all the troops far behind. avasthāpya ca tat sainyaṁ rukmī mada-balānvitaḥ / cikīrṣur dvairathaṁ yuddham abhyayān madhusūdanam // With great pride Rukmī, in the midst of his army, called to Kṛṣṇa, desiring combat between the two chariots. Hari-vaṁśa Govinda means bhagavān who has directly appeared on earth (go). The word Kṛṣṇa which appeared later in the text will have a similar meaning. His repeating “Stop, stop” indicates he foolishness.