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----- bhagap326.html
Krishna gave assurances of safety and he then entered the
house of Naraka. Naraka had carried away 16 THOUSAND GIRLS
by force. Krishna sent away these girls and much treasure to
Dvaraka. He then went with Satyabhama to the place of Indra and
there restored the ear-rings to Aditi. At the request of his wife,
Krishna uprooted the Parijata tree and placed it on the back of
Garuda. The Devas resisted, but Krishna defeated them all. The
Parijata tree was planted in the quarters of Satyabhama and it spread
its fragrance all round. Krishna married the 16 thousand girls at one
and the same moment by assuming as many forms.
KRISHNA AND RUKMINI.
SKANDHA X. CHAP. 60.
Krishna and Rukmini were once sitting together, when, turn-
ing 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 Sisupala 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 short-
sightedness 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. Sisupala, Salva, Jarasandha, 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 Dvaraka Lila,
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,
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