Devanagari
दृष्ट्वा भ्रातृवधोद्योगं रुक्मिणी भयविह्वला ।
पतित्वा पादयोर्भर्तुरुवाच करुणं सती ॥ ३२ ॥
Verse text
dṛṣṭvā bhrātṛ-vadhodyogaṁ
rukmiṇī bhaya-vihvalā
patitvā pādayor bhartur
uvāca karuṇaṁ satī
Synonyms
dṛṣṭvā
—
seeing
;
bhrātṛ
—
her brother
;
vadha
—
to kill
;
udyogam
—
the attempt
;
rukmiṇī
—
Śrīmatī Rukmiṇī
;
bhaya
—
by fear
;
vihvalā
—
agitated
;
patitvā
—
falling
;
pādayoḥ
—
at the feet
;
bhartuḥ
—
of her husband
;
uvāca
—
spoke
;
karuṇam
—
pathetically
;
satī
—
saintly .
Translation
Seeing Lord Kṛṣṇa ready to kill her brother, saintly Rukmiṇī was filled with alarm. She fell at her husband’s feet and piteously spoke as follows.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Seeing Lord Kṛṣṇa ready to kill her brother, saintly Rukmiṇī was filled with alarm. She fell at her husband's feet and piteously spoke as follows.
KB 10.54.32
… but Rukmī’s sister, Rukmiṇī, understanding that this time Kṛṣṇa would not excuse her brother, fell down at Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet and in a very grievous tone, trembling with great fear, began to plead with her husband.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
"What will people think if they know that my brother was killed before my eyes?" She was filled with fear because of this, not out of affection for her brother. The prema of the city women is dependent on public opinion (samanjasa prema, proper love), whereas the prema of the gopis is not dependent at all on the opinion of the public (samartha prema ), and is much stronger. However, one should not worry that the general definition of prema, that it is exclusive possessiveness of Visnu, and no one else, does not apply to Rukmini and others women, since they did not have genuine affection for Rukmi and other demons. This will be explained in detail later.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Somehow by fate Rukmī had become her brother. Seeing Kṛṣṇa about to kill him, she became unsteady with fear out of compassion or because people would blame her. “It is proper to kill such an evil person.” But she was very learned (satī). She considered, “This low fellow cannot do anything to the Lord. The miserable person acts out of ignorance, like a sick person. Therefore it is proper that Kṛṣṇa show mercy to him, since he is related to me, and I have surrendered to him.” Kṛṣṇa thought as follows. “He cannot do anything to me. That is true. But how can I tolerate his desire to cause her difficulties? Though I can save his life on her request, I will always have the desire to crush this person with evil intentions.”
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
Seeing Kṛṣṇa about to kill him, she became unsteady with because people would blame her. She fell at the feet of Kṛṣṇa because he was her husband. She spoke pitifully to invoke his mercy or out of fear. Someone may argue, “It is proper to kill such an evil person.” But she was full of good qualities like natural compassion (satī). She has affection because he was her brother.