Rukmiṇī

Rukmiṇī is the foremost queen of Dvārakā and the most loved of Kṛṣṇa’s eight chief wives. The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa says she is an avatāra (descent) of Mahālakṣmī, born into the royal house of Vidarbha as the daughter of King Bhīṣmaka. She is ayonisambhavā (not born from a womb): she is a divine being who appeared directly. Texts tell of her marriage to Kṛṣṇa against the hostility of her brother Rukmi, her beauty and devotion, her place below Rādhā, and her return to Vaikuṇṭha.

Who she is

Rukmiṇī is Mahālakṣmī herself, the eternal consort of Nārāyaṇa. She came to earth to be at Kṛṣṇa’s side in his earthly avatāra. The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa gives this order:

• Rādhā is the Mūla-Prakṛti (the root nature), the source of all divine feminine power. She stays at Kṛṣṇa’s left side in Goloka.
• Rukmiṇī is Mahālakṣmī, the full (pūrṇa) form of Lakṣmī’s śakti (power) on earth. She is said to be born from Rādhā’s own left side, and so she is the earthly form of Rādhā’s portion.

Sarasvatī’s teaching in the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa is: “Rādhā is the fire. Rukmiṇī is the light of that fire. All other devīs are parts of Rādhā. Rukmiṇī is the whole lotus (pūrṇakamala), but Rādhā is the root from which that lotus grows.”

Birth and family

Rukmiṇī was born as the daughter of Bhīṣmaka, the righteous and powerful king of Vidarbha, who ruled from the capital city Kuṇḍina (also called Kuṇḍinapura). Her elder brother was Rukmi, who was hostile to Kṛṣṇa.

The family purohita (priest) Śatānanda, son of Gautama Ṛṣi, advised Bhīṣmaka to give Rukmiṇī to Kṛṣṇa. Rukmiṇī herself had long before given her heart to Kṛṣṇa in full devotion.

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa tells this in the Śrī Kṛṣṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 105.

The marriage

Rukmi strongly opposed the marriage. He arranged to give Rukmiṇī to Śiśupāla. He invited the kings of Aṅga, Kaliṅga, Magadha, Saurāṣṭra and Mahārāṣṭra to a ceremony like a svayaṃvara (a bride’s own choice of husband). Rukmiṇī sent a secret message to Kṛṣṇa through Śatānanda.

Kṛṣṇa came to Kuṇḍina with his company. Outside the city gates, Rukmi and his allies Śiśupāla, Śālva and Dantavakra met Kṛṣṇa and insulted him. Balarāma fought them with his hala (plough) and musala (club) and drove them off. Śatānanda led Kṛṣṇa through the hundred gates of Kuṇḍina.

Rukmiṇī at the wedding. She had a golden colour and the glow of a hundred moons. She wore saffron clothes and a mālatīmālā (garland of jasmine). She walked seven pradakṣiṇās (circles of honour) around Kṛṣṇa and bowed to him in full devotion.

Bhīṣmaka wept with joy and with the grief of parting. He performed the kanyādāna (giving away of the bride) by placing his daughter’s hand in Kṛṣṇa’s hand with Vedic mantras. Kṛṣṇa accepted with the word “Svasti.”

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa tells this in the Śrī Kṛṣṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapters 107 and 108.

Life in Dvārakā

Rukmiṇī was Kṛṣṇa’s foremost earthly queen and lived in Dvārakā. When Uṣā, the wife of Aniruddha and the daughter of Bāṇāsura, came to Dvārakā after the great war, Rukmiṇī was given charge of her. She bore Kṛṣṇa ten sons and one daughter. Pradyumna was the eldest and the most famous.

Rukmiṇī’s palace in Dvārakā was decorated with the Pārijāta tree brought from svarga (heaven). It became the most famous of all the queens’ palaces. Her devotion to Kṛṣṇa was complete and without reserve.

At the assembly at Siddhāśrama, when the supreme glory of Rādhā was shown, Rukmiṇī bowed down before Rādhā with her head on the ground. She was full of holy awe and recognition.

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa tells this in the Śrī Kṛṣṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapters 112 and 124.

Return to Vaikuṇṭha

Rukmiṇī is ayonisambhavā: not born in the ordinary way, but directly manifested. When Kṛṣṇa went back to Goloka (Goloka-ārohaṇa) and his earthly avatāra was complete, Rukmiṇī went with her divine body straight to Vaikuṇṭha. There she takes up again her eternal place as Mahālakṣmī, the queen of all śrī (prosperity) beside Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa.

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa tells this in the Śrī Kṛṣṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 129.

Rukmiṇī in the Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa, Viṣṇu Parva

Lakṣmīdevī and her birth in Vidarbha

The Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa (Viṣṇu Parva) also tells of Rukmiṇī’s divine nature. Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa himself tells Bhīṣmaka that Rukmiṇī is sākṣāt (in person) Lakṣmīdevī. On Hemakūṭa mountain the devas asked Bhagavān Viṣṇu and Lakṣmī to come down to earth. Lakṣmī was told to be born as Bhīṣmaka’s daughter at Kuṇḍinapura in Vidarbha, and to wait there for the coming of Bhagavān Viṣṇu. Kṛṣṇa says to Bhīṣmaka in the assembly: “Your daughter is Lakṣmīdevī in person. By Brahmā’s order she has come down into bhūloka (the earth). She is not fit for a svayaṃvara. She should be given to a worthy man. This is the way of dharma.” This is told in the Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa, Viṣṇu Parva, Chapter 52.

Rukmiṇī is born as the daughter of Bhīṣmaka, the righteous king of Vidarbha, who rules from Kuṇḍinapura. Her elder brother Rukmi was always hostile to Kṛṣṇa. He had learned the Brahmāstra from Paraśurāma and divine astras (weapons) from Druma. At Jarāsaṃdha’s urging, Rukmi decided to give Rukmiṇī to Śiśupāla. Bhīṣmaka himself believed that Kṛṣṇa was the right husband, but he could not stand against the pressure of Jarāsaṃdha and Rukmi. This is told in the Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa, Viṣṇu Parva, Chapters 48 and 60.

The svayaṃvara and Kṛṣṇa’s arrival

Rukmi arranged a grand svayaṃvara for Rukmiṇī at Kuṇḍinapura and invited kings from every direction. Jarāsaṃdha, Śiśupāla, Dantavaktra, Śālva, Pauṇḍraka Vāsudeva, Bhagadatta, Bhūriśravas and many other kings came with their armies. A messenger told Kṛṣṇa that the beauty of the three worlds, in Kuṇḍinapura, was to be given at a svayaṃvara. Kṛṣṇa was deeply moved. He went there with the Yādavas Balarāma, Sātyaki, Akrūra, Kṛtavarma and others.

Garūḍa went with Kṛṣṇa to Vidarbha. The kings who had gathered were filled with fear when Garūḍa came, because the wind of his wings stirred the oceans and shook the mountains. Kṛṣṇa stayed at the home of Kratha and Kaiśika, the two brothers who ruled Vidarbha. They joyfully offered their kingdom to Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa.

Then Indra himself sent a messenger. He ordered the gathered kings to perform Kṛṣṇa’s rājyābhiṣeka (royal consecration) in Vidarbha. He sent a divine throne made by Viśvakarma and eight holy pots from Kubera. At Indra’s command the kings consecrated Kṛṣṇa at the svayaṃvara place. Apsarasas danced, Gandharvas sang, and the devas showered flowers from the sky. This is told in the Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa, Viṣṇu Parva, Chapters 48 to 51.

The abduction

On the day before the svayaṃvara, Rukmiṇī went in a chariot, guarded by soldiers, to a temple to do pūjā to Śacīdevī under the Jyeṣṭhā nakṣatra (lunar star group). Kṛṣṇa saw her. She wore white silk and had matchless beauty, Lakṣmī in person. He at once decided that she was his. When her pūjā was over and she came out of the temple, Kṛṣṇa took her and placed her in his chariot. Those who tried to stop him were struck down with a tree that he pulled up by the roots. The Kṛṣṇa-vaṃśīyas stood guard on every side. This is told in the Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa, Viṣṇu Parva, Chapter 60.

Rukmi’s defeat

Rukmi was enraged. In front of Bhīṣmaka he swore that he would not enter Kuṇḍinapura again until he had killed Kṛṣṇa and won Rukmiṇī back. He went after Kṛṣṇa with a great army of southern kings: Krātha, Aṃśumanta, Śrutavarma, Veṇudāri and others. On the banks of the Narmadā, Rukmi faced Kṛṣṇa himself and let loose sixty-four sharp arrows. Kṛṣṇa answered with seventy. He broke Rukmi’s chariot, killed his charioteer, broke his bow and cut down his flag. Rukmi jumped from his wrecked chariot with his sword. Kṛṣṇa cut the sword too, and at last wounded him with three arrows through the heart. Rukmi fell.

Rukmiṇī saw her brother on the ground. She threw herself at Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet and begged for Rukmi’s life. Out of love for Rukmiṇī, Kṛṣṇa gave Rukmi abhaya (freedom from fear) and left without killing him. Meanwhile Balarāma, Yuyudhāna, Akrūra, Kṛtavarma and Cakradeva scattered the armies of Jarāsaṃdha, Śiśupāla, Dantavaktra and the other allied kings. Rukmi could not keep his vow. He refused to enter Kuṇḍinapura again and built a new city in Vidarbha called Bhojakaṭa, where he settled. This is told in the Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa, Viṣṇu Parva, Chapter 61.

Marriage in Dvārakā and her sons

Kṛṣṇa brought Rukmiṇī to Dvārakā. After Balarāma and the Yādavas also came back in victory, Kṛṣṇa married Rukmiṇī there with the proper rites. She became his foremost queen (jyeṣṭha-patnī), a pativratā (wife devoted to her husband) of matchless beauty and virtue. She bore Kṛṣṇa ten sons and one daughter. The named children are Cārudeṣṇa, Sudeṣṇa, Pradyumna, Suṣeṇa, Cārugupa, Cārubāhu, Cāruvinda, Sucāru, Bhadrācāru, and the daughter Cārumatī. All the sons were great warriors and skilled in dharma, artha (wealth) and the craft of ruling. This is told in the Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa, Viṣṇu Parva, Chapter 61.

Pradyumna was the most famous of her sons. He was the avatāra of Manmatha (Kāmadeva). Śaṃkara had burned Kāmadeva’s form, and Kāmadeva was born again through Rukmiṇī’s womb as Kṛṣṇa’s son. The asura Śambara carried off the infant Pradyumna on the seventh night after his birth and raised him without telling him who he was. But the boy killed Śambara in the end and came back to Dvārakā with Māyāvatī, who was Ratī herself born again. During Pradyumna’s long absence Rukmiṇī was overcome with grief. On the day he returned, she told of a dream she had seen, which told what was to come. A beautiful woman had entered her house with a garland of lotuses and put it round her neck. When Kṛṣṇa pointed out the returned Pradyumna and brought him to Rukmiṇī, she wept for joy and said she was blessed. This is told in the Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa, Viṣṇu Parva, Chapters 106 to 110.

Later, Balarāma killed Rukmi in a quarrel over dice at the wedding of Aniruddha, the son of Pradyumna, and Rukmavatī, Rukmi’s granddaughter. This match was made when Kṛṣṇa asked Rukmi to give his granddaughter to Aniruddha. Rukmiṇī, as Kṛṣṇa’s foremost queen, was there at these events. Kṛṣṇa did not blame Balarāma for Rukmi’s death, out of loyalty to his elder brother and his own restraint. But in private he wept and comforted the grieving Rukmiṇī. This is told in the Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa, Viṣṇu Parva, Chapter 62.

The Śrī–Rukmiṇī Saṃvāda in the Anuśāsana Parva

In the Anuśāsana Parva of the Mahābhārata, Bhīṣma tells Yudhiṣṭhira of a time when Rukmiṇī, in the presence of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, questioned Lakṣmī directly. She called her “Bhṛgu’s daughter” and the beloved of Nārāyaṇa, and asked in what kind of beings she lives. Lakṣmī answered in detail. She spoke of the qualities and settings that draw her to a place or drive her away, and of her true form, mūrtimatī (in bodily form), which lives only in Nārāyaṇa. This is told in the Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 11.

The pāyasam trial and Durvāsa’s vara: Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 159

Kṛṣṇa told Yudhiṣṭhira of another episode in Dvārakā that involved the fearsome ṛṣi Durvāsa. Kṛṣṇa told it in answer to Pradyumna’s angry questions about honouring brāhmaṇas. Durvāsa ate hot pāyasam (milk pudding) in Kṛṣṇa’s house. He then ordered that the leftover be smeared on Kṛṣṇa’s own body, and then on Rukmiṇī’s. He next yoked Rukmiṇī to his chariot like a horse. He drove her hard down the royal road and urged her on even as she stumbled. The Dāśārhas were furious at the shame. Kṛṣṇa showed no sign of anger at any time. Afterwards he ran after the fleeing ṛṣi, still covered in pāyasam, and begged his forgiveness.

Durvāsa was pleased by this complete absence of krodha (anger). He gave Kṛṣṇa a vara (a boon) that no harm could touch any place where the pāyasam had touched him. The soles of his feet were left out, because they had been forgotten in the smearing. Durvāsa also said that Rukmiṇī would be the first among Kṛṣṇa’s sixteen thousand wives. She would be forever young and forever fragrant, and age, disease and loss of beauty would not touch her. This is told in the Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 159.

Grief at Dvārakā and entry into the fire: Mausala Parva

The curse of the brāhmaṇas came to its end. The Vṛṣṇis killed one another at Prabhāsa, and Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma laid down their bodies. Arjuna came to a Dvārakā that had become like a woman whose husband has died. When Arjuna arrived, the sixteen thousand wives of Kṛṣṇa cried aloud in sorrow. Rukmiṇī and Satyabhāmā, the daughter of Satrājit, threw themselves on the ground around Arjuna. They clung to him and wept in grief beyond comfort, because the Pāṇḍava had become their only refuge. Only after a long lament were they raised up and seated. Then Arjuna spoke to them of the qualities of Govinda. This is told in the Mahābhārata, Mausala Parva, Chapter 5.

Arjuna did the last rites for Vasudeva and for the fallen heroes. He led the surviving people of Dvārakā out of the city, which the sea then swallowed, and he crowned Vajra at Indraprastha. Rukmiṇī then chose not to live on after her lord. With the queens Gāndhārī (Kṛṣṇa’s own wife, not the Gāndhārī of the Kurus), Śaibyā, Haimavatī and Jāmbavatī, Rukmiṇī entered the fire and followed Kṛṣṇa to his own realm. The other beloved queens, Satyabhāmā first among them, went to the forest to perform tapas (austerity). This is told in the Mahābhārata, Mausala Parva, Chapter 7.

Sources

• Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Janana Khaṇḍa (Chapters 105, 107, 108, 112, 124 and 129)
• Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa, Viṣṇu Parva, Chapters 48 to 62 and 106 to 110
• Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapters 11 and 159
• Mahābhārata, Mausala Parva, Chapters 5 and 7